


Soldier's Test

by jsaint34



Series: Super-Soldier [3]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, romanogers - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-08
Updated: 2014-08-09
Packaged: 2018-02-12 07:05:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 34,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2100111
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jsaint34/pseuds/jsaint34
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>This is part three of a series.  I originally started writing this as a war to save the Marvel Multiverse.  Unfortunately the story became far to convoluted, and I shifted it back to a Steve/Nat centric story and how they and the rest of the Avengers deal with the fall out from these events.  While I kept the premise in the beginning of the story I think it worked out better with a focus on the team.  If anyone wants to see the other part, I might go back and write a story based on the war, that ties in with this story.  I hope you like the story, comments are appreciated and I would love to hear feedback.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. After the Wedding

Prologue: Sometimes fate has a way of giving you what you’re looking for, especially when you least expect it. For Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff, this was a partnership, that turned into a friendship, and then to love. Two years of working side by side after the Battle of New York, these two team-mates developed a bond that far outweighed any they had felt before. For Steve, it was being able to get close to someone who could help him learn to live in the new century he woke into. All he ever wanted to be was a soldier. For Natasha, it was a chance for her to let her walls down, something she had been uncomfortable doing with anyone other than Clint Barton. When you’re a spy, you tend not to let anyone in, or give your trust away easily. Perhaps this is what initially drew them together. They both lived guarded lives, and sometimes keeping people at a distance is a terrible way to live, but it’s a good way not to die. Captain America and the Black Widow lived this life until they found each other.

The day after the wedding Steve wakes up early just like he always does. He looks over at the woman sleeping beside him and he feels content. It was a long road for them to get here and he wouldn’t have had it any other way. As he gently brushes the hair out of her eyes he thinks to himself about how beautiful she is when she sleeps. He gives her a light kiss on the forehead, and her lips curl into that soft smile he loves so much. Silently he gets out the bed to get dressed for his morning run. Tasha feels the shift in the mattress and through half opened eyes she speaks.  
“Going for a morning run, Captain? After last night I didn’t think you’d have any energy left to be up so early this morning.”  
“Last night was amazing, Tasha. If we hadn’t had Jarvis sound proof the room, there would have been seven angry Avengers trying to sleep breaking down the door,” Steve says with a smile.  
“We couldn’t have that, now could we. Go get your run in. You wore me out, so I’m going to get some more sleep. Tony insists on cooking breakfast for all of us.”  
“I’m not so sure that’s a good idea. Pepper told me about the flight back from Monaco, he spent three hours cooking and brought her back a burned omelet. Get some more sleep, I won’t be gone long. Love you, beautiful.”  
“Love you, sweetheart.” Steve leaves quietly to hit the nature trail. Tasha sits up in the bed and admires the wedding ring he had specially made for her. It’s an eighteen carat gold setting with a white diamond in the center, a ruby on the left, his birthstone, and a rare blue topaz on the right. He told her he wasn’t even thinking about the colors when he chose it; he had just wanted it to have their birthstones around a diamond. Naturally, she loved that he put that much thought into the ring and its design. Lying back down, Tasha goes back to sleep so she can be awake and refreshed for the flight to Bali for their honeymoon. Outside, Steve is enjoying his morning run. The area surrounding the cabin is all quiet and the sun is up, but not too high yet to break through the trees canopy. He feels at peace and one with nature. It’s so different than Brooklyn and D.C. Growing up, he thought he would never get tired of the city. He was always so in tune with the people and the sounds, that being in a place like this would make him nervous. He laughs as he realizes how much he has changed since he became Captain America. He’s been a soldier, he’s seen war. When he woke from his nearly seventy year sleep, he was instantly in a world where nothing made sense for him. Every friend he’d ever had was long gone from his life. Some of them had passed on, and others, like Peggy had moved on with their lives. Then he met Natasha. She was strong, fearless, and independent, and instantly he was attracted to her, but he still had to keep a distance. The Chitauri, being on the run with her when they discovered HYDRA had infiltrated SHIELD, and then the attack on Camp Lehigh, all this brought them together and they realized how much they needed each other. Two sides of the same coin, opposites, but connected in a way that she had never felt with Clint, and what he had been looking for since before he went under. Finishing up his run, he heads back to the cabin to get a shower and start breakfast before Tony can. Something about burned omelets doesn’t appeal to him. When he gets there, he finds an unexpected visitor waiting outside for him.  
“This is a nice place you have here, Captain,” says Phil Coulson.  
“Morning, Phil. What are you doing here? I thought you would be busy rebuilding SHIELD from the ground up. Nick told us he made you the new director. Wait a minute, how did you know this is where we were?”  
“Fury told me. I have to say congratulations on the wedding. I wish I could have been here for it. I knew you and Natasha were meant to be together from the moment I introduced you on the helicarrier. I had hoped though that it wouldn’t have taken you both so long to realize it yourselves.”  
“You can’t rush these things, Phil,” Steve says. “Anyway, you’re here now, come on in. I was about to start making breakfast for the team.”  
“Unfortunately, I can’t stay. I do have to get back to my team, but I’ll get to why I’m here when all the Avengers are present.” Steve and Phil go inside the cabin and while Steve begins cooking all the Avengers are waking up and greet Director Coulson. Tony is the first to congratulate him.  
“Phil Coulson, Director of SHIELD. It wasn’t so long ago that we thought you were dead. Now, you’re the boss. Congratulations.”  
Tasha comes out of the bedroom dressed and ready for the day. Before joining Steve in the kitchen to help him prepare breakfast, she greets Coulson as well.  
“Hey Phil, it’s good to see you. Nick couldn’t have chosen a better man to be the new Director of SHIELD.”  
“We’ve got a long way to go to rebuild. I hope I’m the man for the job. Congratulations, Natasha. I was glad to see you and Captain Rogers become a couple, I’m even happier that you two have gotten married. Anyway that’s not the only reason I’m here. I need the Avengers help.”  
“What’s wrong, Phil. What’s so urgent that we have to leave the after party of Steve and Natasha’s wedding,” asks Tony.  
“While HYDRA’s infiltration of SHIELD was extensive, there are still bases across the world with Agents that were not HYDRA. I’ve been in contact with them. The Convergence was a crisis of global proportions. What’s coming next will make that look like a walk in the park. Malekith only wanted to return the universe to darkness. What we face next, is threatening to destroy everything.”  
“What are we facing? What has the power to do this,” Rhodey asks.  
“Well, that’s the problem, Colonel. My team and I aren’t sure. So far, the only thing we know for certain is that people are disappearing. Sometimes they reappear right where they were, no worse for wear. Other times, they are transported half way around the world with no idea as to what happened. The worst case scenario has only happened a handful of times. A person has disappeared, and then returned with no memory of their life here. Here they could be married with two children, and when they come back, they’ve always been single, it’s as if…” Phil pauses, and Bruce finishes for him.  
“It’s as if the person who reappears is from a different earth than ours. One that moves along the same lines of the space time continuum, but has a different outcome, or set of rules. The only known device that could be capable of that is…”  
“The tesseract,” Thor says. “It’s not possible. The tesseract is safe in my father’s treasure room. It has been there since I returned to Asgard with Loki.  
“I believe you Thor,” Steve says, “but we shouldn’t discount any possibilities of what is causing this, until we have some solid evidence.”  
“Then I shall return to Asgard, and seek answers from Odin. I will return when I have them.” Not wanting to cause any damage to Steve and Tasha’s cabin, he steps outside. “Heimdall, open the Bifrost!” Thor is transported back to his home to get the answers he seeks.  
“All right, so Point Break is gone,” says Tony. “What do the rest of us do?”  
“First thing, we all get back to the tower,” Tasha says.  
“Not a chance, you and Steve have a honeymoon to go on. Take it, the rest of us can handle this,” Tony interjects.  
“No Tony. You’re not leaving us out of this one like the last time you went to Asgard,” Steve says. The fate of the universe is at stake, we’re all in this together.”  
“Agent Romanoff, could you please talk some sense into your other half. I don’t think he is really seeing things the way…” Tasha interrupts him.  
“I agree with Steve, genius. We can get our honeymoon in when the world is safe.”  
“Tony, you really should have learned by now not to argue with The Black Widow,” Clint says. “Like her husband, when she makes up her mind about something, there is no changing it.”  
“All right, then let’s get going. Avengers Assemble!”  
“We’re already here Tony, we’re assembled,” Clint jokes.  
“You know what I meant, Hawkeye. Back to the tower.”  
The team boards the quinjet and leave for New York City. Steve and Tasha both know that they will get their honeymoon after this is all over. The mission comes first though.


	2. He who seeks dominion

“The time has come. The fabric of reality will be torn asunder. What the Dark Elves and Loki attempted is nothing compared to what I will unleash. With the powers I now have, the universe will fall, and nothing will stand in my way of conquering everything.”  
“But, Master, the Earth is defended by a group that defeated Loki and his Chitauri forces. The Odinson defeated the Dark Elves and Malekith. How can we possibly stand against this in victory?”  
“Silence, slave. These so called Avengers are earth bound. They can do me no harm here. The Odinson is as weak as he is stupid. With the new universe I intend to create, there will be no Avengers, no Thor. All those who attempt to oppose me will know only death!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The big bad makes his first appearance. Can't reveal his identity yet.


	3. Asgard

Thor has returned to Asgard looking for answers to help his friends on Earth. Entering the main hall of the palace he encounters Lady Sif and The Warriors Three.  
“Greetings Odinson,” exclaims Fandral. “Welcome home. Are you here to stay for a more lengthy time?”  
“Nay, Fandral, I have come to seek answers from the All-Father.”  
“Be wary, Thor. The All-Father has been in an ill temper as of late. What news you seek may not come easy,” says Sif.  
“Then he too must know of the danger our universe will face in the coming time. All the more reason to request the answers now, for another day may be too late.” Hogun rarely says much, but when he does, it is always with purpose, this is one of those times he speaks:  
“We all have felt the change coming, Thor. Dark forces are at play in the universe. The danger is far worse than the Convergence was. Pray that the All-Father can give what you need.” Thor departs the main hall to see his father, while his friends continue discussing the matter at hand.  
“Thor did seem to be in an ill temper as well,” Volstagg says. What bodes ill for the Odinson, bodes ill for us all.”  
As Thor journeys to the throne room, he is met by many a friend and palace guard, he is greeted with several calls of Hail, Odinson, but he is determined to get answers, and to see if the tesseract is indeed still in Asgard. Arriving at the throne room Odin greets him.  
“What brings you back to Asgard, my son? The last time you were here was for the Troll uprising.”  
“Father, I have returned because it seems dark forces are at play in the universe. On Earth strange things are…” Odin does not let Thor finish his statement.  
“Midgard must deal with its own crises, my son. The Realm Eternal cannot interfere.”  
“Father, it seems though that the tesseract is responsible for what occurs. What if it has been taken again?”  
“The tesseract is safe where it belongs. Whatever forces are at work, are none of our concern.” Heimdall enters the throne room with grave news for Odin and Thor.  
“Your pardon, All-Father, I have seen a dark force coming. It bodes ill for more than just the nine realms. It is a danger to all existence. As quickly as this dark force appeared to me, it was gone.”  
“Could it be Surtur, attempting to rise again,” Thor asks.  
“No, Odinson, the demon Surtur has never been able to remove himself from my sight. This is something or someone far more dangerous. All-Father, we must be prepared for this threat.”  
“Then we will prepare as is now necessary. Perhaps it is time for the Realm Eternal to return to battle,” Odin says. “My son, return to Midgard, tell your allies that we will stand ready should this force invade Asgard. We shall do what is necessary to keep it from advancing past this land.”  
“I will go, Father. My thanks to you, I hope someday should I be ready for the throne to be as wise a king as you are.” Thor leaves with Heimdall for the Bifrost, to make his return to Earth.  
While Thor has been questioning Odin, The other Avengers have arrived back at the tower and are greeted by Dr. Strange.  
“Greetings, Avengers. I know you did not expect to see me return here. I have come to ask for your help as dark forces are tearing apart the fabric of reality. I felt the Convergence occur, but the very fate of all existence is at stake.”  
“Whoa, Doc. Can the doom and gloom, we’re Avengers; we stopped the Chitauri invasion, and an invasion of Skrulls. Whatever is coming, we can handle it,” Clint says.  
“I admire your bravery, archer. However this is far worse than an alien invasion. These forces are tied to the Dark Dimension, and my foe has yet to reveal himself. Whenever he does, I can only speculate that his intentions are to remove all boundaries between the many earths that exist. You have no doubt heard of the disappearances of people from our world to others. This is only the beginning of what is to come.”  
“So this is mystical then,” Tony says. “I’ve never been one to believe in all that mumbo jumbo.”  
“Mr. Stark, you don’t need to believe in the mysticism for it to exist. There are forces all around us that we cannot see, but they are there all the same,” Strange says.  
“You’ll have to forgive Tony, Dr. Strange,” says Steve, “We had this same situation a year after the Chitauri invasion. Tony risked his life flying a nuke into the portal, the near death experience caused some anxiety.”  
“Wow, thanks for bringing up that embarrassing piece of trivia Rogers,” Tony says.  
“I’m sure the Captain meant no disrespect, Mr. Stark. Sometimes we all have proclivities that prevent us from accepting some things in life that we can’t understand.”  
“And there’s the burn from Dr. Strange, what is this two for one day on jokes about Tony Stark? It’s lucky I have such a good sense of humor,” Tony says in response to his dig at himself.  
“So who exactly is this foe of yours, Doc,” Sam asks.  
“He is unknown at this point. There is a possibility of Mephisto, but destroying the universe isn’t his usual M.O. He wants to enslave souls. There are a few other possibilities. Baron Mordo, Blackheart, they are almost as unlikely as Mephisto.”  
“Stephen, we shouldn’t rule out anyone. If there is a possibility, no matter how small, we need to consider them,” says Bruce.  
As Dr. Strange and the Avengers continue listing possible aggressors, Thor returns to the tower with news.  
“Thor, what were you able to find out? Did Odin provide any information that could be helpful,” asks Coulson.  
“The tesseract is still in Asgard. We know for sure that Surtur is not behind this. Nor is Hela. My father did however say that the Realm Eternal will stand ready should this force invade there first. Our hopes are that it can be held and defeated there.”  
“Who is Surtur,” Rhodey asks.  
“Surtur is the fire demon and ruler of Muspelheim. His existence predates both my father Odin and his father Bor. He only wants to rule all of the nine. Destroying the universe would not help him further that goal,” Thor says.  
“Well we have a few ideas of who it isn’t and who it may be. Knowing that, I can get back to my team. If we get any information that can help, I’ll let you know,” Coulson says. He leaves to rejoin his team at their Playground secret base.  
“All right, let’s get down to business. Stephen what can we expect of the shifts from one world to another,” Steve asks.  
“All we can expect to begin with is disorientation. If we can find someone from who has experienced such a shift, we can attempt to test them. There will be variations in their blood, and possibly their organs. With these events being mystical in nature, there may be some after effects of the magic.”  
“All right, Bruce, you’re with Dr. Strange. Find a way to test anyone we may come across that has been through one of these shifts. Tony, Rhodey, Thor I want you three to keep a look out for things that seem out of place. Watch for instantaneous shifts from one place to another. Clint, Bobbi, I want you two meeting with anyone related to the mystic arts,” Steve says.  
“I can provide you with a list of sorcerers I have encountered in my travels,” Strange says. “They have no doubt felt the tremors in the universe.”  
“Good, Tasha, Sam, we’re going to hit the streets. At ground level we may be able to spot anyone suffering from disorientation or confusion. We will probably have very few chances to stop this. We need to make the most of them. Let’s move out team,” Steve says.  
Before the Avengers can leave on their assignments, a civilian comes into the tower asking for help.  
“Excuse me. I know this is Avengers Tower. I feel like something is wrong with me.”  
“What’s your name,” Tasha asks.  
“My name is Jake. I came to ask for your help because five minutes ago I was sitting in my college course in California, and now I’m here. I’m not sure how that happened.”  
“Jake, my name is Dr. Strange. You’re feeling disorientation, confusion, like your body was thrown at super speed?”  
“Yes, Doctor. What’s happening to me?”  
“If you will permit us, Dr. Banner and I would like to examine you. Other early reports of people who have experienced these types of shifts have shown to have organs slightly out of place.”  
“Of course. When you’re done, how can I get home?”  
“We will arrange for transport for you. This way please.” Drs. Strange and Banner escort the young man up to the medical floor, while the other Avengers discuss the situation.  
“Okay, so that was easy,” Tony says. “We have our first patient. What’s step two?”  
“We wait for the results. If anything, this may help us determine what will happen after the shifts, and then get us closer to finding out where these forces are originating from,” says Steve. “Clint, I want you and Bobbi to fly the kid home after Stephen and Bruce are done.  
“Got it, Steve,” Bobbi says.  
Ten minutes later Bruce and Stephen bring Jake back to the entry level floor. They wait for him to leave with Clint and Bobbi before relating the results to the rest of the team.  
“He’ll be fine. He shouldn’t experience any lasting effects from the shift. This one was minor,” Strange says. “However, the energy that transported him from California to New York did originate in the dark dimension. It’s very possible that my old enemy, Baron Mordo could be involved. He has trained in the dark magic before. He even attempted to kill our master, The Ancient One with these dark forces.”  
“So that narrows it down. Is it possible Mordo is behind all of this,” asks Bruce.  
“Mordo is a coward. There is always some greater force driving his actions from the shadows. When I would defeat him in our battles it would always be Dormammu driving him.”  
“Well then, Stephen, we can add this Dormammu to the list as well,” Bruce says.  
“It is possible. Dormammu often breaks the pact we made after I defeated him the last time. I humiliated him, and he agreed to never attempt to enter the Earth again.”  
“So, until we are sure of this, we protect, we contain, it’s the best we can do,” Steve says.


	4. Darkness Reigns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More of the big bad.

“Master, The Sorcerer Supreme has joined the Avengers. He may know that you are planning the destruction of all existence.  
“Stephen Strange is a human. His efforts will be even more ineffectual than Thor’s. Odin is a fool to think Asgard will stand against my power. By the time they realize who I am, it will be too late.   
“Master, what of your alliance with Surtur and Mephisto?”  
“A temporary alliance. Surtur believes when we recreate the universe in our image he will be given all the nine realms. Mephisto believes that all the souls of Earth will be his. There will be no place for either of them when I am done.”  
“A brilliant plan master. What happens if they realize you plan to betray them?”  
“I wonder slave, why you need to do all this excessive thinking. Perhaps I should send your soul to Mephisto. It would rid Dr. Strange of your stupidity as well.”  
“No, master. Do not send me to his dimension. I will not question you again.  
“BE SURE THAT YOU DON’T. I can think of far worse torture for you than Mephisto or Surtur ever could.”  
“No more questions, I will only remain your loyal servant.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Story starts to pick up from here. Hope ya'll are enjoying it so far.


	5. Disassembly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another battle with Attuma, and Tony has to practically force Steve and Nat to go on their honeymoon.

For a few weeks dimensional shifts happened frequently. The intensity of them became stronger as the people being shifted disappeared and then reappeared with no memories whatsoever. Some didn’t know who they were, what happened or anything of their life before the occurrence. Dr. Strange became increasingly frustrated as he was no closer to discovering who his unrevealed adversary might be. Then the shifts stopped. For a month the space/time continuum seemed to have stabilized. For the moment it would be the calm before the storm.  
“You know, Doc, maybe this was just a random occurrence, a fluke,” Tony says.  
“Your pardon, Tony, but when it comes to the Dark Arts, there is no such thing as a fluke. Everything that has occurred or will occur has purpose. This enemy we have yet to meet is building towards the end of all things. I don’t believe he is done yet,” said Strange.  
“Aye, Stark. You remember what Loki was able to do with the tesseract. It may not be involved, but the Doctor is correct. Dark magic is not a force to be trifled with,” Thor says.  
“Trust me Thor; I remember well what happened with the cube. I’m not taking this lightly. As a tech genius, I have to look for facts and the science behind these events.”  
“Sometimes being too dependent on tech is not a good thing Tony. When this is all over, I’m going to teach you some wilderness survival skills. It might do you some good, it might do all of us some good,” Steve says.  
“You better get your honeymoon in first, though, Steve. I don’t think Nat would be too happy to miss it a second time around,” Clint interjects.  
“Don’t worry Clint, that is foremost in my mind after we save the world.”  
“So what do we do now,” Sam asks. “It’s been a month since the last dimensional shift. Do we just sit and wait for another one?”  
“No, Sam. We do what we always do. We protect the world,” Steve says.  
Rhodey comes back from a recon mission he was on with news.  
“Hey, guys, better get the T.V. on. You’re not going to believe what’s going on out there.”  
“We interrupt your regularly scheduled program with a breaking report. New York is being invaded by a man called Attuma. He claims to be from the lost city of Atlantis. He has threatened to sink the entire east coast of the country unless the world surrenders to him.”  
“Not this guy again. It’s been almost a year since he last attempted this. You’d think he’d be bored with trying to defeat us,” Clint says.   
“Whatever, we have to stop him. With what’s at stake in the universe, we don’t have time to let him drag this out,” Tony says.  
“I agree,” Steve says. Iron Man, Hulk, you two defeated him the last time. Have any ideas on how to stop him this time?”  
“Yeah, I have a few, let’s suit up.”  
The battle is short lived. Attuma’s threats were empty. He was forced to retreat in humiliation again. His real reason for attacking the surface world was to ask the Avengers for help in protecting Atlantis against the threat of the space/time continuum unraveling. With the earth bound threats nullified again, Tony convinces Steve to take Tasha on their honeymoon.   
“Steve, we have this under control,” Tony says. Dr. Strange is still working to find out what or who is causing these rips in the fabric of the universe. Until he does, there isn’t any point for you and Natasha to sit around doing nothing. Take a quinjet, go on your honeymoon. You two deserve this. You’ve both been working non-stop since we got back the day after your wedding. Helping rebuild SHIELD, helping with every minor threat that comes along, as co-leader of the Avengers I insist that you go.”  
“Tony, it’s not like we haven’t been doing anything, you know. We’ve helped save the city,” Steve says.  
“Yes, you have. This is my gift to you. Go, enjoy some time away. I promise we’ll contact you if anything happens.”  
“All right, Tony, all right. I’ll go get Tasha and we’ll take the trip.” Steve leaves Tony behind and takes the elevator up to his and Tasha’s floor. She had been feeling a little sick when Attuma attacked and needed to get some rest. Steve sees her asleep as he enters their room. He sits down beside her and brushes the hair out of her eyes. She felt the shift in the mattress and slowly woke up.  
“Hey, beautiful, are you feeling any better,” he asks.  
“A little bit. How did the mission with Attuma go?”  
“It was a trick. The Atlanteans are as concerned about the dimensional shifts as everyone is. He didn’t come to fight; he just wanted to get our attention.”  
“Doesn’t that kind of defeat the purpose of invading the surface world?”  
“This has got us all on edge, Tasha. So I’ve been thinking, and Tony agrees, why don’t we go ahead and take the trip for our honeymoon?” She sits up in the bed and looks at Steve like he is crazy for a moment.  
“We agreed to do this after this crisis abated. Do you really think this is a good time?”  
“Sweetheart, this may be the perfect time. We haven’t had any time to ourselves in a while. So let’s do it, what do you say?”  
“I have missed our alone time, and we’ve been working ourselves pretty hard over the past month. You know what, let’s go, I like when we get to just be Steve and Tasha, and put Cap and the Widow on the back burner.”  
“Great, so let me ask you, why Bali?”  
“It’s some place different. I’ve never been there and despite it being a huge tourist attraction, it’s also supposed to be very romantic.”  
“Okay, so two weeks of nothing but beaches, the ocean, and you and me. The perfect environment for us to relax.”  
“Excuse me Captain Rogers, bur Mister Stark has asked me to inform you that the quinjet is fueled and ready for departure as soon as you and Agent Romanoff are packed,” Jarvis says.  
“You’d think Tony is trying to get rid of us,” Tasha laughs. “Thanks Jarvis.”  
“It might be possible that Tony is a little jealous. He still hasn’t popped the question to Pepper; sometimes I wonder what’s holding him back.”  
“Tony is afraid to give up the single life. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. He wants to protect Pepper, after the extremis incident he may not be sure that if they get married and he’s away that she will be protected.”  
“Sometimes you have to take the risk. I think Pepper appreciates his concern, but I bet she wants what you and I, and Clint and Bobbi have.”  
“Oh she does. Call it woman’s intuition, but while she is happy as C.E.O of Stark Industries, she wants more from their relationship. We better get going before Tony throws us out.” Hurriedly getting packed, they get things together and head up to the quinjet. As they get on board, Steve finds a note from Tony.  
“Have a safe flight. We’ll be in contact should anything happen. Don’t Worry, enjoy your honeymoon.”  
For the next two weeks, Steve and Tasha enjoy their trip. They go on some of the tours around the island. They relax by the pool, and they just enjoy married life. Even the brief illness Tasha had isn’t enough to put a damper on the fun they have. There is not one threat or call to action during the entire trip.   
“So, this is what it’s like, isn’t it,” Tasha says.  
“What, sweetheart,” Steve asks.  
“Being normal, and so in love that nothing can change how happy we are.”  
Steve gives a little chuckle, “Normal, it feels good. It’s nice, and peaceful.” He pulls her in for a kiss, and holds her close as they sit together in the beach chair watching the waves. Back at the tower, Dr. Stephen Strange is getting closer to discovering who his enemy is. As he narrows his list down, another possible aggressor comes to mind.   
“How’s it going Stephen,” Bruce asks.  
“It’s frustrating. Every time I get close to the answer, the clues that lead me there vanish. Our adversary is definitely cunning. He has found a way to cover his tracks well enough to keep me one step behind him.   
“Have you considered the possibility that it’s not just one adversary we face? That it could be multiple hostiles. I mean, what if the driving force behind all of this has employed pawns to keep us off balance.”  
“Aye, that could be true,” Thor says. As with Malekith, before the Convergence, he used the prisoners of Asgard’s dungeons as a distraction to keep me away from his attempts to capture Jane.”  
“I should look deeper then,” Strange says. “Please, gentlemen, you’ll have to excuse me while I enter the astral plane.” Thor and Bruce leave the guest room that Tony had set up for Dr. Strange so he could be left to concentrate his powers on finding a solution the coming chaos. As Dr. Strange enters the astral plane, the other Avengers begin to research Baron Mordo, and Dormammu.   
“So this Dormammu, the file says he’s a Faltine. He’s a master of mystical energy and he’s immortal. Great, so if he is behind this we can’t kill him,” Clint says.  
“Looks like we’ve got someone new to take over Cap’s hobby of reading files,” Tony jokes.   
“This isn’t a hobby for me Tony,” Clint says, “Steve would want to know everything possible about our enemy, and I think we should learn all we can. Especially if he is as dangerous as Dr. Strange says he is.”  
“Starting to lose your sense of humor, Clint? Good, it means I get to be the only funny one on the team now,” Tony says.  
“Tony, this is not a time for jokes,” Bruce says, “ordinarily keeping the situation light would be a good thing, but not now.”  
“Buzzkill, I get it. Doom and gloom, end of the universe, I know it’s serious.”  
While the Avengers do their research and wait for Dr. Strange to return from the astral plane, Steve and Tasha are on the last day of their honeymoon, and getting ready to return to New York. Tasha has had a small relapse of her illness from before Attuma attacked.  
“Tasha, are you okay,” Steve asks.  
“Just a little relapse, maybe a little morning sickness. I think it might be the weather here,” she says. “Don’t worry, Steve. I’ll be okay.”  
As the last night falls on their trip to Bali and they get sleep before the early flight, Tasha’s slight morning sickness will be the least of their worries.


	6. Another Earth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What happens when two Steve Rogers' trade places?

As Steve starts to wake up, he hears noises in the kitchen. Not certain he is awake yet; she walks back to the bed and kisses his neck gently.  
“Steve, wake up,” she says. “I made breakfast.”  
“What did you make this morning, Tasha,” he asks sleepily.  
“Tasha? Who is Tasha,” the woman beside him asks angrily.  
Fully alert now, Steve rolls over and looks at the blonde woman sitting on the bed beside him.  
“Sharon? Sharon Carter? What the… how did I? What are you doing in Bali?”  
“I asked you first. Who is Tasha? More importantly, we’re not in Bali. We’re in my apartment in New York. It’s where we came after the mission yesterday. You were injured and I brought you here to recover.”  
“This can’t be right, last night I was in Bali, on my honeymoon with my wife. She had been sick that morning. How could I have gotten to New York in less than eight hours and asleep?”  
“Okay, okay, slow down a minute Steve. You must have taken a harder hit than I thought. This could also be an after effect of your trip through time when we thought you were dead. First of all, you’re not married. Secondly, we’ve been dating again for five years after we had to help the Red Skull prevent World War 3.”  
“Look, Sharon, if that is who you really are. The Red Skull wasn’t trying start or stop World War 3. Baron Zemo was, with his Masters of Evil. Two years ago I didn’t even know you. Two years ago was the battle of New York against Loki and the Chitauri. It was just before that when I met my future wife, Tasha. We’ve been partners for two years and married for a month now. We worked together to bring down SHIELD after we found out it had been infiltrated by HYDRA.”  
“Bring down SHIELD? What are you talking about, Steve? SHIELD didn’t fall. Nick Fury is still in command.”  
“I get it. This isn’t my earth. This is one of those alternate earths Dr. Strange was talking about back at Avengers Tower. The dimensional shifts have started again. Sharon, have your Earth’s Avengers had to deal with people shifting from one place to another unexpectedly and with disorientation or no memories of what happened?”  
“I still don’t know what you’re talking about.”  
“Look, I need to get to Avengers Tower. If we can get there I can meet with this Earth’s team, and we can get to the bottom of this and fix whatever is happening. Can you help me get there?”  
“I can get you to Avengers Mansion, Steve,” Sharon says. “But when this is all over, we’re going to get you the best doctor available so you can forget all about these other earths, and this Tasha.”  
Sharon and Steve leave to meet with this Earth’s Avengers at their mansion. Meanwhile in Bali, this same argument is happening between Natasha Romanoff- Rogers and a different Captain America.  
“Good morning handsome,” Tasha says as Steve slowly wakes up beside her.   
“Morning, Sharon,” he says before opening his eyes.  
“SHARON!? We’re on our honeymoon and you wake up and call me Sharon,” Tasha says angrily.  
Steve’s eyes snap open and he is fully awake. He is shocked to see the red head sitting in bed beside him.  
“Natasha? How did you get in Sharon’s apartment? Did we… What happened last night?”  
“Captain, you’ve got bigger problems than what happened last night right now. First of all, this is our hotel suite in Bali, for our honeymoon. I hope you remember that we got married a month ago, or you’re about to have the shortest marriage in history.”  
“Look, Natasha, let’s just be rational about this. Yesterday I was on a mission with Sharon Carter. I was injured and she took me back to her apartment in New York so I could recover. I went to sleep there, and now I wake up here. I know you as a great Avenger, and an even better friend. I trust you with my life, but all we are is friends.”  
“You’re not my Steve, then. The dimensional shifts have started again. Dr. Strange said this could happen. We’d better get back to Avengers Tower. I have to let the team know this has started again. Get dressed, Captain, we’ve got work to do.” The alternate Steve begins to get dressed and asks Tasha a question.  
“Does this Earth’s Steve always dress like an old man? I would have thought he’d embraced the modern society and clothes by now.”   
Tasha speaks up to defend her husband, she is slightly offended at this Steve and she lets him know.  
“Hey, I like the way he dresses. He is comfortable this way. More importantly I love him for not being afraid to be himself. Hurry up or I’m going to leave you here.”  
“I meant no disrespect, Natasha. He must be one hell of a good man to win your heart. I can see why he loves you.” She knows this is not her Steve, but in spite of the situation, she allows for a small smile, thinking: “At least this other Earth has a Steve like mine. That world’s Avengers will be in good hands.”  
As Tasha and the alternate Steve board the quinjet to head back to Avengers tower, her Steve has just arrived at Avengers Mansion with Sharon.  
“Avengers Mansion? Let me guess, this was Howard and Maria Stark’s home, and your Iron Man uses it for the team,” Steve says.  
“Yes, Tony felt it should be like a home for team. He wanted you all to feel as if you had a place where you’re always welcome despite the insanity you face on a daily basis. You should know that though, you do lead the Avengers.”  
“I keep telling you Sharon, I’m not the Steve of this world. If he’s anything like me though, he’s a good man and I’m sure he misses you.”  
“Look, Steve I’ll play along. You are obviously still somewhat traumatized from the journey through time. After all not long before that, you were fighting in a super hero civil war against Tony, to try and stop the super hero registration act.”  
Steve decides to stop trying to convince her of the truth, she really doesn’t believe him anyway. As they enter the mansion, the buildings security alarms start to sound.  
“Intruder Alert. All Avengers personnel, we are under attack. Intruder alert. Avengers report to the main foyer of the mansion.” Iron Man is the first to arrive followed by Hawkeye and Thor.  
“Stop where you are,” Iron Man says. You have just entered a secure facility. State your business here and throw down your weapons.”  
“What he said,” Hawkeye follows up, with his bow loaded.  
“Tony, Clint, stand down,” Sharon says. “It’s just Steve and I.”  
“You were not the intruder the system alerted us to Agent Carter,” Thor says. “It is your companion, who has not been recognized.”  
“Now do you believe me when I say that I’m not your Steve? Here, look at this scar. I took a bullet in a mission against the Ten Rings. I bet your Steve doesn’t have this wound.” He lifts up the front of his shirt where the bullet passed through his body. “And as you can see, I’m not carrying any weapons.”  
“All right, so you’re unarmed. That still doesn’t explain who the hell you are,” Tony says. “Carter, you brought a spy into the mansion. For all we know, he’s the Red Skull altered to look like our Cap. Avengers, stand your ground. We don’t know what he’s capable of.” The rest of the Avengers have arrived and all have their weapons trained on Steve. For five minutes, no one speaks; they all wait in a standoff.  
“All right. What will it take to prove to you that I am Captain Steve Rogers, just not the one from this Earth?”  
“Not much you can do will prove that to us,” Clint says.   
“I know what, Jarvis, run a full body scan on me, and it should show the super soldier serum in my blood that will prove my identity.”  
“Edwin Jarvis is incapacitated right now. He is recovering from being attacked by one of our enemies. He’s human, not some robot you can run diagnostics on,” Tony says.  
“Of course, in my world Tony built a computer system and he named it Jarvis. This is an A.I. that runs the tower, his armor, and our quinjets,” Steve says, remembering things are different here.   
“Iron Man, if I may run the full body scan, I believe I can ascertain that this man is who he says,” The Vision finally speaks up, alerting the others to his presence.  
“Go right ahead, Vision. Avengers, keep your weapons locked on until the test is complete.”  
The Vision begins the scan, testing a multitude of factors, heart rate, blood type, stamina, and of course a search for the super soldier serum. Finding everything he needs to be in order he reveals the results.  
“Stand down, this man is indeed Captain Steve Rogers. His blood type matches up with that of our Captain. The Super Soldier serum is also a direct match. Based on the file of the Red Skull, there are several differences in his serum as opposed to the serum Captain Rogers received. This man has been transported here from an alternate Earth.”  
“All right, so you are who you say. Why are you here and where is our Captain America,” Tony asks.  
“I can only guess that if I’m here, he’s in my world. As for the why I’m here, the only reason I can think of is that it is related to the dimensional shifts in the space/time continuum. On my earth, people have been disappearing and reappearing in different places, or with no memories. Whatever is causing these shifts is threatening to destroy the universe. We enlisted the help of Dr. Strange to find the villain behind all of this. We know that the tesseract is not responsible, but the forces are coming from the dark dimension.”  
“Sorry, but what is a tesseract,” Clint asks.  
“The tesseract is a cube that has the power to transport people from one universe to another. It was used by Loki to bring an alien force to my earth two years ago to try and conquer our world.”  
“So it’s a cosmic cube, that actually explains a lot,” Sersi says.  
“All right, so is there any way to get me back to my earth so you can get your Cap back,” Steve asks.  
“Negative, not without the cube,” Tony says. “However, I don’t think that if the fabric of the universe is being torn apart, that you’ll be stuck here for too long. A wormhole should open to get you back home.”  
“Then I’m here, and we’re going to do what we do best. As Avengers, we protect the world.”


	7. The Tower and an alternate Cap

The quinjet landed at Avengers Tower in under two hours. As Tasha and the alternate Steve step off the jet, he can’t help but admire the tower Tony has built.  
“I see that your Tony has the same taste in extravagance as the Tony of my earth does. I do prefer the mansion though. This seems like a little too much,” he says.  
“You get used to it after a while. The tower is well protected and Jarvis makes sure no unauthorized personnel can get in without an Avenger present,” Tasha says.  
“Edwin Jarvis is just our butler, how does he manage security for this entire building?”  
“Our Jarvis isn’t the same as yours. You’ll see in a few moments when we get inside.”  
“So how do we want to do this?” Tasha looks at him questioningly and asks:   
“Do what? Get in there?”  
“No, I meant how do we want to act. As far as your team knows, you came back with your Steve. Shouldn’t we act like I’m him, Tasha?”  
“Look, I’m sorry, my team knows about the events plaguing the universe. I think it would be best if you just be the Steve you are and we explain what happened. I also don’t mean to offend you, because I know you’re a lot like my Steve, but please, call me Natasha, only my husband calls me the shortened version.”  
“I’m sorry; I know this must be difficult for you. You’ve only been married a month, and on your honeymoon you wake up to a different Steve. I know what it’s like. I fought a civil war between my Earth’s super heroes. At the end of which I was shot. It was said that I died, but I was transported through time, just trying to get home to Sharon. And now here I am again, in an alternate world and I just want to get home.”  
“You do understand. Come on, let’s get in there. The faster we solve this crisis, the faster you get home to your Sharon, and I get my Steve back.”  
They enter the tower, but unlike at the mansion on the other Earth, no alarms sound and Jarvis greets them both.  
“Good afternoon Captain Rogers, Agent Romanoff, welcome back to Avengers Tower. I trust that your time away was restful and well spent?”  
“Who was that,” Steve asks.  
“That was Jarvis. He’s an automated computer system that runs the building. The trip was uneventful Jarvis; I had a little morning sickness that seems to have passed.”  
“Morning sickness, Agent Romanoff, perhaps you should check in with Dr. Banner or one of the other members of Mr. Stark’s medical staff.”  
“It can wait for now, Jarvis. Have there been any major events here while I was gone?”  
“None to speak of. Dr. Strange is still attempting to discover who the unseen enemy is. Although it seems there may be an alliance of sorts between many forces related to the dark dimension.”  
“Thanks for the update. I’ve got to meet with the rest of the team; I encountered an unexpected occurrence at the end of the honeymoon. Could you have them all meet me on the common floor?”  
“Of Course, Agent Romanoff, the rest of the Avengers have been alerted to your return and are en route now.”  
The Avengers have all convened on the common floor, and they all want to greet Steve and Tasha back from their honeymoon. Clint is the first to welcome them home.  
“Nat, Steve, welcome back. How was your trip?”  
“The trip was fine, up until the last day. Jarvis told me that there were no unexpected dimensional shifts while I was away, but one happened the day we were supposed to leave to come back here,” Tasha says.  
“Something’s wrong, Nat, you used a lot of me and I in that. What did he do? Am I kicking Steve’s ass for you?”  
“No, Clint. Steve, well our Steve was the latest person to be shifted to another Earth. This one with me is an alternate Steve from an earth I can only guess is where my Steve is now. Has Dr. Strange gotten any closer to figuring out who is behind this?”  
“No,” Tony says. “He is stymied at this point. We’re clearly dealing with someone very powerful.” The other Captain America can see how worried they all are and speaks up.  
“Listen, I know I’m not the Captain America you are all used to. I don’t think though that he and I are all that different. I have a team of Avengers on my Earth as well. If you’ll let me I want to help you all with this crisis. We’re all in this together.”  
“I’ll find you a guest room,” Tony says. While he and Steve go off to set up another guest room, Tasha asks Clint to follow her. They get on the elevator and arrive at her and Steve’s floor.  
“Nat, I know you and Steve share this floor. I also know you well enough to know something’s wrong. You were with me in the med center on the helicarrier after Loki; I’m here with you now. Talk to me.”  
Tasha breaks down, though she tries not to cry, she can’t help but feel the tears welling up.  
“What if we don’t fix this, Clint? What if Steve is stuck in the other Earth, and we never see him again?”  
“Nat, don’t even think like that. He loves you, no matter what; he will find his way back. We’re Avengers, we’ve saved the world, and we’re going to do it again. That’s not all that’s bothering you is it?”  
“No, I’ve been sick, it happened just before the battle with Attuma, and once on our honeymoon. I don’t usually get sick, with the serum the Red Room gave me. Something doesn’t feel right about this.”  
“You should see Bruce. He might be able to help figure out what’s causing it. You don’t need to get worse when Steve needs your help.”  
“I’ll go see him. What are you going to do?”  
“Nat, I’m going to talk to Thor. Whatever it is you’re going through, we’re going to go get Steve back, so he can be here with you.”  
“How,” she asks.  
“Simple, we steal the tesseract.”  
“Steal the tesseract, that’s crazy, even for you Clint.”  
“I know it’s a long shot, but what if it can help, we have to try. And maybe we can use it to find out who the enemy is.”  
“Or what if you and Thor never come back, that’s a possibility as well. I’ve got to go see Bruce. Don’t do anything stupid Clint.”  
“You know me to well. I at least have to talk to Thor.” Clint and Tasha go to separate floors and she meets with Bruce on the medical floor.  
“Natasha, welcome back. I’m sorry I wasn’t at the common floor for the briefing, I was trying to use a new tracking algorithm to locate the source of the shifts.”  
“Its fine Doc, did you have any luck?”  
“Not much. I’ve got some leads that I want to give to Dr. Strange.” Bruce sees a look of worry in her eyes and knows something is wrong.  
“Nat, what’s wrong? Is Steve okay? Are you okay?”  
“Steve was transported to another Earth, and we have their Steve here. I’m sure he’s fine, but that’s not the only thing bothering me. I’ve been sick a few times. I’ve been dizzy and experiencing some morning sickness. But like Steve, the serum I was treated with was supposed to prevent that.”  
“Morning sickness, dizziness, I’ll need to run some blood tests. So I can find out what is going on with the serum. You don’t mind?”  
“No, please. I don’t need to be getting any sicker while the fate of the universe is at stake.”  
Bruce takes a few samples of her blood and begins the tests.   
“Nat, I’ll let you know if I find anything. This could take a little time. Try to keep your mind off of it. I’m sure the others could use your help. Also, if you could, these are my leads on the shifts. Would you take them to Dr. Strange?”  
“Of course.” Tasha leaves the medical floor and goes to Dr. Stranges’ room. Meanwhile Clint is meeting with Thor.  
“Greetings, Agent Barton. How is Lady Natasha holding up in regards to the Captain’s disappearance?”   
“She’s holding up as well as can be expected. Listen, I wanted to ask you about the tesseract. Is it possible that it could take us to the Earth Steve was sent too?”  
“It is possible. However, it could also leave us stranded on any number of Earths or in any galaxy. What is it you are suggesting?”  
“I’m suggesting we steal it. Isn’t the cube a source of mystical energy? Couldn’t it also potentially help us figure out who this threat to existence could be?”  
“Aye, Agent Barton, but what you are suggesting is treason against my father. In Asgard, treason is not taken lightly. It is a sentence of death by bilgesnipe.”  
“Dr. Strange thinks the tesseract might help him boost his power levels. If it can he can find out who our as yet unseen enemy is.”  
“We risk much by doing this. However, I risked more when I freed Loki to save Jane after the Aether possessed her. When do you want to leave?”  
“Now, we don’t have a lot of time to waste.”  
“HEIMDALL, open the Bifrost!” Thor and Clint are transported to Asgard but decide to ask Odin for the use of the tesseract before stealing it. An hour later, Bruce has called Tasha back to the medical floor.  
“Nat, I have the results of the blood tests. It’s good news.”  
“What did you find out Bruce,” she asks.  
“I admit I don’t know much about the serums you and Steve were treated with. It’s why my attempts to recreate his turned me into the other guy. I know that your serum from the Red Room left you infertile. Whatever is in Steve’s serum is negating the damage. When you two…, never mind. The point is Nat, if these tests are correct, you may be pregnant.”  
“Pregnant? If that’s the case, then it would be a miracle. I don’t usually believe in miracles.”  
“Look, Nat, these tests are very preliminary. This isn’t my usual field. It is a possibility, and it could also be that the combining of your serum and Steve’s could potentially heal you. We won’t know more for a few months, especially without a visit to a doctor who does know this field.”  
“So you’re saying don’t get my hopes up.”  
“I’m saying you can hope, but I don’t want you to worry yourself, because it could turn out to be nothing.”  
“Thanks, Bruce. Just knowing there is a chance is enough. I’m also grateful that you care.”  
“We’re a team, Natasha. We’re friends. Whatever happens, we’re all here for you.”


	8. Return to Asgard

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter where Thor asks for the tesseract, while Sif, and The Warriors Three help Clint steal it.

“Thor, you have returned again. What news from Midgard, my son,” Odin asks.  
“Father, my allies have still not discovered the identity of the villain behind all this. Now our team-mate and friend Captain America has been shifted to another Earth. Dr. Strange believes that the tesseract could help us not only discover the enemy, but end this as well. I must return to Earth with it.”  
“Nay, Thor, you cannot. The tesseract is far too dangerous to be taken back to human hands. It must remain safe in Asgard forever.”  
“But Father, saving the Captain is paramount and it may only be the tesseract that can do this.” As Thor and Odin debate the use of the cube, Hawkeye is busy sneaking in to the treasure room to borrow it. Aided by the Warriors Three and Lady Sif, the guards are left incapacitated and they escape with the cube. Thor and Odin finish their debate, with Odin still refusing to let the tesseract be taken. Thor leaves and meets with Clint. He has brought the transport device he used to bring Loki back after the battle of New York and they are able to return to Earth. At the tower they meet with Dr. Strange.  
“Doc, we have the cube,” Clint says. “If you can use this to solve the identity of our enemy you should do it. I doubt it will take Odin long to realize the cube is missing.”  
“Aye, Doctor, once you have made your discovery, we need the tesseract to find our Captain and bring him home,” Thor says. “Then we must return it to my father’s treasure room.”  
“This cube will help, with it I can find out what I need,” Strange says. He and Thor return to his private room and begin. Knowing the cube could hurt the Doctor is why Thor accompanied him.


	9. Even the Demon can fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Here come Mephisto and Surtur, meeting with their uneasy unknown ally.

“Master, the Avengers and Dr. Strange have the tesseract. Surely they will use it to try and discover your identity.”  
“And they will fail. I live beyond the means of what they can do. I am shrouded in darkness. They will only know who I am when I destroy the myriad worlds of the multiverse.”  
“Master, what a well-conceived plan you have. Your allies approach. Shall we deny them entry?”  
“Let them come. We have much to discuss.”   
Mephisto and Surtur enter the throne room of their uneasy ally. They want to know where he is at in process of remaking the universe where they rule everything.  
“You have kept us ignorant long enough, demon,” Mephisto says. “I grow weary of waiting for your plans to come to fruition. I desire the souls of all on the earth for my realm.”  
“You promised me the rule of all the nine realms,” Surtur says. “I wait for Odin to burn while you endlessly plan. The time for waiting is over.”  
“Patience, my allies. All is proceeding according to design. Soon we shall all have what we desire most. Our time is nearly at hand. Everything will burn!”  
“I believe you feel fear. If not, you would have made your move to end this already,” says Mephisto. “These Avengers and Dr. Strange are not to be trifled with. And if they have the tesseract, they can use it to defeat us.”  
“You worry too much, ruler of Hell. They will all fall before us. Now be gone as I make ready for the final preparations.”


	10. The Captain and the Spy

Steve has been fighting side by side with the other Earth’s Avengers for a few weeks now. However, on this earth there have been no dimensional shifts. He begins to think he may never get back home to his friends and his wife. An ally who had been away on a mission returns to New York and he would find a friend.  
“Hey guys, I’m back,” this earth’s Natasha Romanoff enters the mansion. “What’s been going on while I’ve been away,” she asks. Finding no one in the entry way she is a little confused. “Well don’t all come rushing to greet me at once. It’s not like I’ve been away.” She starts walking through the mansion trying to find her team. The first person she encounters acts like a lost puppy when he sees her.  
“Tasha? You’re here, God I’ve missed you. I thought I would never see you again,” Steve says. He runs up to her and attempts to pull her in for a kiss, when she knocks him flat with a knee to the stomach.  
“Whoa, Steve, what the hell are you thinking, trying to kiss me? Sharon would be pissed if she saw that happen. You’re a great friend, but that’s it.”  
Slowly getting to his feet, Steve immediately apologizes for his actions.  
“I’m sorry, Natasha. I just saw you and I thought…” Tony comes in and interrupts him before he can finish.  
“Natasha, you’ll have to excuse our guest. This isn’t our Captain. It’s a long story so I’ll cut to the chase. He’s from a different earth. On his world the fabric of the space/time continuum is being torn apart. He was transported here and our Steve has most likely taken his place.”  
“Okay,” she says, “It’s not like we haven’t experienced this before. Why did he try to kiss me?”  
“That’s a little more complicated,” Tony replies. “On his Earth you and he are married. Now we’re trying to get him home so we can get our Steve back. Does that about sum it up?”  
“Okay, I’m up to speed. Where are we with returning him home?”  
“We need the cosmic cube. It might be the only way to open a doorway between our worlds. But, with his reality being torn apart, we can only wonder how long it will be before ours begins to follow suit.”  
“All right, Tony, why don’t you and the rest of the brain boys get started on solving this potential crisis,” Natasha says. “Meanwhile I’m going to talk to Steve here about his world and the alternate me.”  
“Since when do you get to give orders,” Tony jokes.  
“Tony, just do it,” Steve says. We’ve fought together for two weeks. Surely you can’t be serious, you still don’t trust me?”  
“I am serious, and don’t call me Shirley.”  
“What,” Steve asks.  
“You’ll have to forgive him, Captain; Airplane is one of his favorite movies. He quotes that line all the time when someone asks him if he’s serious,” Natasha says.  
Tony leaves to get to work with the other scientists at the mansion.  
“Okay, that makes sense, on my world Tony likes to call me Capsicle. So what did you want to talk about?”  
“I want to know about this other me. How did you two meet and fall in love? How did you know that a marriage would work with the obvious dangers you would constantly be facing?”  
“When you know, you just know. We met when she was an Agent of SHIELD. I’d been frozen for nearly seventy years. Everyone I knew was either dead, or had moved on with their lives. It’s not easy to explain. Everything just kind of happened. We fought an alien invasion together, we became partners after that. Two years we worked together, we survived an attempt on our lives by people we thought were our friends. She was always guarded, so was I. Afraid to let anyone get close enough to see the real you. I guess that’s how we knew we needed each other. Sometimes it’s not about finding someone who has the strength to break your walls down, it’s about finding someone who has the courage to climb.”  
“I can see why she loves you. If it were me I’d probably have fallen for you too. My life and hers aren’t all that different though the outcome is, so as long as you’re here with us, you’ve got a friend in me. It’s what I can do to help you until you get back to her.”  
“I appreciate that Natasha. I really do. This cosmic cube, from my description of the tesseract, and what Sersi said it sounds like they’re the same thing. What if it could send me home, and stop the destruction of the universe? How would we go about getting it?”  
“It wouldn’t be easy. The cube is in A.I.M’s possession. The last time we saw it you, no sorry… our Steve used it to help restore his friend Bucky’s memories. It has unlimited power, we’re not even sure what all it can do,” Natasha says.  
“I shouldn’t be surprised your Steve had a friend named Bucky as well. He was probably a soldier just like my friend Bucky.”  
“Actually, Steve said that during the war he was a mascot for their unit. Bucky was younger than him and an orphan. He would become someone called the Winter Solider, an assassin.”  
“The more things I think are different here, the more they are actually the same. So, I think it’s time we steal this cosmic cube.”  
“Steal it, that sounds like something Clint would suggest. You’ll need him as well as me if you want to pull this off.”  
“Then let’s go. We can fix this if we get that cube,” Steve says.  
Clint walks in, trying to figure out what they’re planning.  
“I think my ears were burning,” he says. “Were you two talking about me?”  
“Hawkeye, we need your help to steal the cosmic cube,” Steve says.  
“Sounds like fun. Finally some action,” Clint replies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Somehow having Tony be a fan of the movie Airplane kind of makes sense. Steve is with the Avengers of on an Earth similar to Marvel Earth 616. 10 chapters in, from when I wrote this back between May and June. Hope everyone is enjoying the story so far.


	11. A Threat Rises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The identity of the big bad is revealed.

“Master, I have been monitoring the other earths as you requested. It seems that another group of Avengers are plotting to steal a cosmic cube. This cube seems to be a version of the tesseract. If they are successful, they could undo everything we are working to accomplish. The power of these two cubes combined could be the end of us.”  
“Then I must accelerate my plan. It is time to begin the war. You must reveal yourself to Dr. Strange, Mordo, and then you must kill him.”  
“I would relish the opportunity to face him in battle again. This time he will fall and I will become the Sorcerer Supreme.”  
Mordo is transported to Avengers Tower and he prepares to wage a war against his long time enemy Dr. Strange.  
“Greetings Avengers. I am Baron Mordo. I seek Dr. Stephen Strange. I have come to kill him so my allies Surtur and Mephisto can destroy the universe as you know it.”  
“You have always been more talk than action Mordo,” Dr. Strange says. “I have already used the tesseract to discover that you are in league with the demons. I also know that there is another force driving the three of you. You were never smart enough to devise a plan like this on your own.”  
“You insult me, Strange. Your overconfidence will be your downfall.”  
The battle begins and is epic. Mordo uses every dark magic spell he knows to try and conquer his adversary. Dr. Strange easily blocks every attack, and fires back with his own magic. It lasts for hours, and a few times Mordo thinks he has the upper hand. The tide turns when Strange uses the eye of Agamotto to absorb Mordo’s strongest attack and deflect it back.  
“You will always be weaker than I, Mordo,” Strange says. You have forgotten all the lessons the Ancient One taught you. The dark forces you seek to control are nothing with the power of light to help combat them. You will never be the Sorcerer Supreme.” Dr. Strange performs an enchantment to bind Mordo’s hands together and put a mystical block on his ability to speak.  
“I cast you back to the dark dimension. Tell Dormammu we will be ready for him.” As a flash of light envelops Mordo, his eyes widen in fear as he now knows that Dr. Strange has known all along that Dormammu was the cause of all the destruction to the fabric of the universe, and then he is gone.  
“That was epic, Stephen,” Bruce says. “How long have you known Dormammu was our enemy?”  
“I knew as soon as Mordo came here to confront me. My trip to the astral plane, combined with the power of the tesseract showed me Mephisto and Surtur combining their strength. However what they don’t know is that Dormammu plans to betray them. I was also able to discover that the other Earths are preparing for this same threat. One in particular, that runs parallel to ours, has a team of Avengers preparing to steal a cosmic cube. It is very similar to our tesseract. Leading them is our Captain America.”  
“Does that mean we can get Steve back,” Tasha asks.   
“Yes, Natasha, at this very moment he is planning to use the cube to open a doorway to return home. If we can combine the power of these two cubes, I may be able to defeat Dormammu once and for all, and perhaps keep him banished to his dark dimension forever.”  
On the other Earth Steve, Clint and Natasha have successfully stolen the cosmic cube. A.I.M was overconfident in thinking no one would make an attempt and only posted six guards.   
“Well that was easy,” Clint says.  
“Yeah, you played look out, we did the hard work,” Steve says, “Not that I’m complaining. You always did see better from a distance.”  
“That’s my M.O. Cap. It’s what I do, probably what your Hawkeye does as well.”  
“Okay, if you two girls are done flirting, we should get back to the mansion,” Natasha says. “We need to get the rest of this plan in gear.”  
With a small laugh, Steve is reminded just how much this Natasha is just like his own. “You really are just like her. That is exactly the same type of joke my Tasha would make.”  
“Well, we do aim to please. Come on let’s get moving.”


	12. The Dark Dimension

While Dr. Strange and the Avengers spent the past two weeks making plans and preparing for battle, the alternate Captain America was keeping up appearances in Steve’s uniform. When it was revealed that Dormammu was their enemy, the team was taking the exact same steps as their counterparts on the other Earth.   
“Master, Dr. Strange knows your identity. He defeated me in combat and sent me with a message. They will be ready for you, he says,” Mordo tells Dormammu.  
“They are fools. Like Mephisto and Surtur, none will stand against me. Now to address your failure, slave. You swore you would defeat Dr. Strange, creating a pathway for my entry to their world. You have failed me for the last time, Mordo. I cast your soul to Mephisto; there you will burn for all eternity.”  
“NO! Master, please don’t send me there.”  
“BE GONE!” Dormammu destroys Mordo’s physical form, and with the aid of the magic of the dark dimension sends his soul to Mephisto’s fire realm.  
“It is time my allies. The final preparations are complete. The Universe will burn!”  
Mephisto and Surtur have rejoined Dormammu in the dark dimension and cast an incantation that breaks down the walls between the Earths. As the multiple doorways open, Dormammu is freed from his imprisonement, and the pact made with Dr. Strange to never again pester the forces of Earth.


	13. A New Threat

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This where the story went back to being more Steve/Nat centered. Dr. Strange leaves to fight in the Dark Dimension, and he didn't want to risk The Avengers getting stuck there.

With the revelation of Dormammu as the enemy, Dr. Strange bids the Avengers farewell and leaves to fight the battle. Before he can leave, his new friends wonder what they should do, and if they can help him in battle.  
“Doc, if you leave to fight Dormammu, shouldn’t some of us come with you,” Tony asks.  
“No, this is a battle I must fight alone. In the Dark Dimension only magic can defeat magic. You all have become my friends. I appreciate all the kindness you have shown me. I could not risk your lives for this.”  
“So what do we do,” Bruce asks.  
“You must do what you always do, Avengers. You fight and protect the world.” As Dr. Strange leaves for what may be his final battle, the Wrecking Crew chooses this time to attack the Avengers. The fight is intense, Hulk , Thor, Iron Man and War Machine fare the best against them. Like his counterpart, Captain America enters the fray, fighting bravely, but on a roof behind the battle a sniper is waiting. As the battle ends the Avengers are made aware of one more casualty by War Machine.  
“Guys, we have a problem. You might want to take a look at this,” Rhodey says.  
The Avengers all turn around and see Cap down and taking shallow breaths. Tasha kneels beside him, he gives a salute to a team that he has come to trust. With his last breath he whispers: “Avengers, fight on.”


	14. Black Widow Strikes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nat was with the alternate Steve as he fell in battle. With her Steve on the other world, she takes measures to rescue him.

Two weeks have passed since The Wrecking Crew attacked. Steve’s fall angered the entire team, but hurt Tasha most of all. Even though he is not the Steve she married, the reality hits her that he may never be able to return from the alternate earth he is on. While she has always been extremely independent, all they have been through together has made them stronger. They can still function alone, but they’ve always had the other’s back. She has been fighting non-stop and knows that he is as well. Tasha makes a decision, regardless of the consequences; she’s going to find him.  
“I’ve made up my mind Clint; I have to find a way to get to this other earth. Steve is there, and I’m going to bring him home,” she says.  
“You told me not to do anything crazy in regards to the tesseract, but Thor and I stole it anyway. It was your warning that kept me from flying off the handle to try and rescue Steve, because we didn’t know where we would end up, and now you want to attempt the same thing? Nat, you know I’ve never been the voice of reason, but this time, think before you jump.”  
“Look Clint, I told you that because you never look before you leap. I’ve always been there to pull your ass out of the fire. I don’t plan on going alone, just this one more time; I need you to have my back, and pull both of us out if things go wrong.”  
“First off, I’ve always got your back. Steve would kill me if anything happened to you. So think about this for a minute. Nat, this is an extremely dangerous undertaking. You’ve been sick, and we’re still not sure what is causing it.  
“All right, Clint, I know you’re worried about me. But sick or not, I have to do this. God help anyone who gets in my way. Seeing no point for further argument, Clint gives in.  
“I’m with you Nat. So what’s the plan?”  
“I’ve talked to Thor. That device he used to transport himself and Loki back to Asgard should enable us to get to the other earth.”  
“Okay, but how do we know we’ll end up on the right earth, we could be jumping from one to another, and not find the right one,” he says.  
“You remember that talisman Dr. Strange gave me for my birthday? I carry it with me. He protected it with a spell that would always enable Steve and I to find each other. If I use it and focus on him, it will take us to him.”  
Bruce comes down from the medical floors looking for Tasha as more testing had been done on her second blood sample, and he has more results for her. He hears this conversation and knows that there could be potential consequences for her.  
“Natasha, I have some more news from the tests on your blood,” he says.  
“Now is not a good time Bruce. Clint and I are about to use the tesseract to get to the other Earth. We’re going to save Steve.”  
“This is important. As with the first tests we ran, the results are the same. The interaction between your serum and Steve’s has been healing the damage caused by the Red Room. The dizziness, the morning sickness are all direct results of this.”  
“So that means what, exactly,” she asks.  
“Well, you’ll be healthy again. It’s still too early to tell, but there is a chance that pregnancy could or already has occurred. A trip between worlds could have negative repercussions.”  
“I still have to go. If their Steve fell in battle, ours could too. I’m not willing to let that happen. So what would you have me do Bruce, I’m taking the chance.”  
“Listen, I was able to test the energy from the tesseract. Readings from the gamma energy it was releasing interacted with another energy source. The energy was nearly identical. This leads me to believe that the cosmic cube on the other earth has activated itself, and these two cubes are working in conjunction. We just need the signals to line up, in sync. When that happens, a shift should be possible, but also the risks to you both will be minimal. The wrinkle is that only two of you can come back at a time.”  
“I have that covered,” Clint says. “Thor says that if we can get through, if he uses Mjolnir to boost the energy, he can open a wormhole to bring whoever stays behind back without the tesseract. Steve and Nat come back, and I follow through the wormhole.”  
“It’s a good plan,” Bruce says. You just need to be careful. You don’t know what you may encounter over there.”  
“So how long until the energy released does become in sync,” Clint asks.  
“There was an isolated small sync up about an hour ago. If it occurs in segments, there may be another one in about ten minutes.” Thor enters the room with the cube, ready for the dimensional shift.  
“All is ready my friends. We just need to wait for another energy burst,” Thor says.  
“Thor, you’re sure you can do this? Boost the energy and create a secondary wormhole,” Bruce asks.  
“Aye, Banner, I can.”  
The energy burst happens sooner than they expected, and with all the pieces in place, Tasha and Clint activate the cube, while Thor strikes the apparatus with a small burst of lightning. The two partners are instantly transported out of Avengers Tower into another world. As they arrive they notice they are in a darkened building. Dealing with some slight disorientation, they work on getting their bearings. Out of the blackness an arrow is fired and sails past Clint as he ducks having heard the draw of the bowstring.  
“State your business here! Friend or foe,” a voice calls out.  
“We’re not here to fight you. We came looking for someone we know,” Tasha says.  
“Then you’re in the wrong place,” another voice says. “You refuse to identify yourselves, there is no one here you know.”  
Another arrow is fired and this time Clint hears it and grabs it out of the air when it passes him, loading it into his own bow, he fires it, aiming at the ground.  
“Drop your weapons and we drop ours,” he says. “I’m sure we can settle this peacefully!”  
“Not going to happen,” a female voice calls out from Tasha’s left. In an instant, the unknown female is attacking Tasha. In the dark, they can only make a faint outline of each other. They fight by feel, trading punches and kicks. Neither one of them seems to have the edge and are evenly matched. As they continue fighting, Clint is attacked from behind; he knows this is their archer because he hears the quiver of arrows rattling.  
“Attacking from behind, huh? Only amateurs attack that way. Afraid to engage me in a one on one shooting contest,” he asks.  
“No, I heard you catch my arrow, so you obviously have some skill. Hand to hand is more efficient in the dark. Besides I’ve been training with a super soldier, I want to see how I stack up when it’s not just a sparring session.”  
“So what are you going to do next…, talk me to death? You’re moving to slow old man, I’ve trained with a super soldier as well.”  
Clint jokes to try and get his opponent to make a mistake, but like Tasha and her mystery opponent, they are also evenly matched.  
“You’re good,” says Clint’s opponent, “It feels like I’m fighting myself.”  
“Yeah, you’re not so bad either, but you’re still slow, let me guess, your name happen to be Cross?”  
“Cross, as in Crossfire? How would you know that, unless you’re him trying to play me for a fool?”  
“I don’t need to play you for a fool; you’re doing a good job of that all by yourself,” Clint says.  
As Clint and his opponent prattle on both Tasha and her adversary call out:  
“Hey girls, can you quit flirting and get the job done,” they say in unison. Going back to the fight, neither of the four notice a shield flying through the dark, and ricocheting off the wall, into the floor where Clint fired the arrow before.  
“THAT’S ENOUGH,” an authoritative voice says from the back of the room. “Whatever is going on here stops now. All of you stand down.” He slowly brings the lights up in the room, and like the four combatants in front of him, he is stunned to see who is looking back.  
“Steve,” Tasha says. “Did it work, are we on the other earth?”  
“Tasha? It is you, how did you get here,” he asks.  
Snapping back into the impassible Black Widow, she knows she needs proof that this is her Steve.  
“Hold on a minute Captain. On my earth we’ve been dealing with dimensional shifts, people being transported from one place to another. If you’re my Steve, prove it.”  
“Okay, proof, on your left hand is a wedding ring. The stones are a white diamond, a ruby, and a blue topaz. The last time we saw each other was the last night of our honeymoon in Bali. You had some morning sickness. That about cover it?”  
Tasha runs over to him and he wraps his arms around her and they kiss like they haven’t seen each other in years. After they break, she looks back at her opponent and sees herself. Meanwhile Clint has his own adversary down, and seeing him for the first time, lowers his bow, to offer him a hand up.  
“Sorry about that,” Clint says. “You’re a great fighter. Should have known I was fighting myself.”  
“Likewise,” the other Clint says. “You don’t wear a mask? We have to hide our identities here.”  
“I can see that, hope the whole blue and purple thing works out for you. Do people ever tell you that you look like a bruise?”  
Realizing that time is of the essence if they all want to get home, Bruce calls out to them: “Hey, we can’t keep this wormhole open all day. Steve, Tasha, use the tesseract, Clint get your butt in gear!” He also walks through while supporting the other Captain America. “I have someone here for you, he’s a little out of it, but he’ll recover. He’s just as tough and unwilling to die as our Steve.”  
As Bruce and Clint go back through the wormhole, Steve and Tasha reactivate the tesseract and are pulled through to their own world. As the doorway closes, Cap has woken up, and is being supported by Clint and Natasha, he remarks:  
“They’re a great team. That tower is something else. I still prefer the mansion though.”  
“You know Steve, from the looks of them, we make a great team, and an even better couple,” Natasha jokes.  
“Yeah, but Sharon would hurt me if we got together,” he replies.  
“Good to see you haven’t lost your sense of humor old man,” Clint makes a joke at his friend’s expense. The three depart together for Steve’s room so he can get some rest.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought it would be interesting to see Clint and Nat taking the initiative to go and rescue Steve and end up in a fight in Avengers Mansion with themselves. I also liked the idea of Clint being snarky with his own opponent while Nat took a more serious approach before they realized they were fighting alternate versions of themselves.


	15. Return

The Avengers are once again whole. Clint and Tasha took a risk that paid off. Although questions were running through her mind about the other Steve’s recovery, and where he had been hidden away, but also if there would be any after effects of the trip to the other earth and the healing process that the combined serums were causing. With Steve back she tries not to worry about this, but she is also concerned about what he will say if she is pregnant. He knows she can protect herself, but having a baby is a dangerous proposition for their line of work. For now, until Bruce has some more news, she puts these thoughts aside and wants to be happy that they are back together. One day later they are sitting together on the couch of their shared apartment at the tower.  
“Tasha,” Steve says, “I’m glad you made the attempt to bring me home, how big a risk was it?”  
“Don’t worry about the risk, it was mine to take, and Clint had my back. We weren’t going to leave you stranded there.”  
“But the morning sickness you’d been having, If it’s serious I…” She cuts him off before he can finish.  
“Don’t even think about that Steve. Bruce ran some blood tests on me; there were no negative results that came back. He says I’m healthy and fit for duty.” She looks away trying not to let Steve see the worry in her eyes, he just came back from the other Earth and she doesn’t want to cause him any unneeded stress until they know if the dimensional shift had some detrimental effects to his own physiology. Knowing something is up, he puts a hand on her chin and gently turns her head to face him.  
“So what is it that you’re not telling me, Tasha? I can see something’s bothering you.  
“It’s nothing, I’m just glad the risk paid off and that we got you back.” She hates hiding the truth from him, especially since they both took so long to get their walls down, but with the crisis going on, he really doesn’t need to worry any more than he already is. Jarvis would interrupt their reunion with a request.  
“Excuse me Captain Rogers, but Dr. Banner has requested that you and Agent Romanoff report to the medical floor as soon as possible.”  
“Jarvis,” Steve says, “could you ask Bruce if this could wait a little, I just need some down time…”  
“ I do apologize Captain, but the matter is of some urgency.”  
“All right, tell him we’re on our way.”  
What is normally a five minute trip from their floor to the medical level feels like it takes hours. Steve knows Tasha is still keeping something from him, but he didn’t want to pressure her. He knows better than to push the Black Widow to admit something when she isn’t ready. Two years of being partners and he knows her better than he knows himself. So he waits, Tasha will tell him what’s bothering her in her own time. He trusts her to open up. Tasha takes the elevator ride in silence, holding Steve’s hand. She wonders why she couldn’t just tell him everything. She loves that he respected her enough not to pressure her to tell him. She thinks about how different he is from any other man she has known, truly a gentleman, he understands her need to process what she is going through and tell him when she is ready. She looks over at him, and he smiles and gives her hand a gentle squeeze. In that simple gesture she knows he is saying everything will be okay. She decides that after they see Bruce she will open up.  
“Steve, Natasha, I hope you two have gotten some rest since coming back,” Bruce says. “I wish I could have given you a little more time before asking you to come up here, but I have news for you Steve.”  
“What is it Bruce,” he asks. “Did you find something wrong in the blood sample you took from me?”  
“Actually, no I didn’t. Everything checks out. That earth must have been similar enough to ours that your body acclimated immediately.”  
“Well, that’s good news,” Tasha says. “You needed both of us for that?”  
“No not for that. I know you have some questions in regards to Steve’s double Natasha. We all thought he had died in the field. It turns out that the serum in his body put him into a state of suspended animation. It no doubt saved his life. I didn’t test his blood, but it seems that given the same set of circumstances your serum could do the same thing for you, Steve. I’d like to run some more tests on your blood to confirm my hypothesis.”  
“Go ahead. You’ll let me know the results?”  
“Of course,” Bruce says. “I’m sure the team could use your help with planning how to solve the rest of this crisis, and in due time you can. Right now I think you both should get a little more rest. Don’t worry I’ve cleared it with Tony, he says that they can handle it. Jarvis will let you know if you’re needed.”  
“Thanks, Bruce,” Steve says. “Tasha, I’m going to go talk to Tony for a minute, meet you back at our floor in ten?”  
“Sure, I needed to talk to Bruce for a minute. He took a risk going through the wormhole with the other you. See you there,” she says. Steve leaves to go find Tony and Tasha stays behind to chat about her own tests.  
“I told you I’d let you know if I got more news about your blood, Nat. One of the specialists from Tony’s medical staff examined both your blood samples and the tests are conclusive. When your serum combined with Steve’s you began to heal. It’s been a couple months since I ran the first test, and with the last blood sample I took after you came back, the other earth had no detrimental effects to your system.”  
“That’s good news, but…”  
“There is actually no but scenario in this. The good news is that the morning sickness will pass, it was just related to the mixture of serums. It also means that you’re not pregnant, though if you wanted, it is a distinct possibility that you could carry a child to full term and have it born healthy. You haven’t told him yet, have you?”  
“I was waiting until you had more results for me. I didn’t want to worry him needlessly.”  
“Good plan,” Bruce says as Tasha leaves. Steve is down talking to Tony about their next move.   
“It’s good to have you back Steve,” Tony says. “ With Dr. Strange taking the fight to Dormammu, I think our part in this is over.”  
“I don’t think we should take this lightly Tony. The worlds may have stabilized for now, but this is far from over. We need to take action because we don’t know what’s coming next. Odds are Modok or anyone of our enemies could take advantage of this.”  
“I know the odds, Cap. Rhodey and I are working on every contingency plan possible. You should get some rest. We got this.”  
“You’re right, something has Tasha worried. It’s not normal for her to be so shaken. Let me know if anything happens.” Steve leaves for his floor and Clint pulls him aside.  
“Hey old man, how you feeling?”  
“Fine Clint, Why, what’s up?”  
“Just checking in, you were gone a while, and we had that other Steve in your place.”  
“I’m sure he performed well. He has his team trained like a perfect fighting unit. Listen, if there’s nothing else, I need to talk to Tasha.”  
“Yeah, nothing else, just take it easy. Don’t overdo it with getting back into action too soon. Anyway, I have to go meet with Bobbi, she just got back from a mission.”  
“Give her my best,” Steve says. Entering the apartment he finds Tasha sitting at his drafting desk like when she returned from her six months off the grid last year.   
“You’re late,” she says, with a hint of amusement. “What did Tony say?”  
“He and Rhodey are making contingency plans. They have this under control. I reminded him that even though Dr. Strange is taking the fight to Dormammu, we shouldn’t take the situation lightly. I’m late because Clint stopped me. He was worried about how long I was on the other earth.”  
“We were all worried about you. When the other Steve fell in the battle with The Wrecking Crew, it scared the hell out of me because I thought we’d never get you back.”  
“You came for me though, you and Clint got me back. Remember what I said, I’ll always come back to you.”  
“There’s more than that though. While you were gone, Bruce ran some tests on my blood. I asked him to because of the morning sickness.”  
“You told me about the tests already. I thought there were no negative results.”  
“There weren’t. The results were actually positive. Bruce doesn’t understand how it happened, but when our serums interacted, yours began healing me. It means I may not be infertile anymore.”  
“Tasha, that’s fantastic news. I know we haven’t talked about it, but this potentially means we could start a family. Is this what has your worried so much?”  
“We could, but think about our lives. The danger we’re in. A child would change everything, I can’t help but think about the risk of our child being used against us.”  
“You said our, you have thought about this haven’t you? I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want a family, Tasha. I’ve weighed the risks of this since before I became Captain America. When I was the scrawny kid who was bullied, would I be able to provide for a family, and then when I became Cap, I thought that maybe I wasn’t meant to be more than a soldier. Now I have that chance again, but it’s not just about what I want. I want to know what you want.”  
“I’ve never felt that I was meant to be a mother. When I was pronounced infertile I thought I never would be. When I couldn’t, it became something I wanted, a want what you can’t have situation. And now…” she pauses.  
“And now you think you may have the chance, so there’s nothing wrong with wanting. I heard Reed and Sue just had a child, a healthy baby boy.  
“So you’re saying you want to do this. We’re really going to try?”  
“I do want this chance, more than anything I want this with you.”  
“That’s what I told you the first night in the cabin, just before I told you I love you for the first time. You remembered.”  
“Wouldn’t forget it,” he says with a smile and a gentle kiss.


	16. Cabal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Modok comes into the story, and this will be a big threat for the Avengers.

It had been two weeks and the Avengers had no news from Dr. Strange. They could only hope that the battle with Dormammu was going in his favor. While Tasha and Steve began planning for a family, Tony was busy trying to find the right way to propose to Pepper. He knew that going with a giant puppy was a bad idea after the giant bunny Christmas debacle. All their plans would be interrupted by an attack by a new team of villains. As explosions rock the foundations of the tower, Jarvis alerts Tony to impending danger.  
“Sir, we have a level 5 threat. The tower is under attack. Adversaries are unknown at this point. Defensive strategy six is recommended,” Jarvis says.  
“Thank you Captain Obvious,” replies Tony. “How have you not identified the enemy? There couldn’t be a tech genius alive who could block your programming other than me unless…” The realization hits Tony like a ton of bricks and he calls out over the building p.a. “Avengers: We have a priority 5 alert. The tower is under attack and possibly compromised. All personnel report to the situation room immediately.” The Avengers all report in concerned with the newest threat to the tower.  
“What’s going on genius,” Clint asks. “Whose butts do we have to beat this time?”  
“Stifle the jokes, Agent Barton,” says Bruce. “This must be serious.”  
“It is serious Bruce. During the alert, Jarvis informed me that he was not able to identify the attackers. It can only mean we’re dealing with a technopath. No one, not even Mr. Armor Envy Hammer can block Jarvis’ programming, so we’re dealing with…” Tony pauses and Steve finishes for him.  
“Modok, and he’s not alone. They picked the wrong time to threaten us.”  
“Don’t worry Cap, it’s probably his usual A.I.M goons again. We can take them with our eyes closed,” Bobbi says.  
“I appreciate your confidence Mockingbird,” Steve says, “but if was A.I.M, we wouldn’t be at level 5.”  
“Well, then let’s not keep them waiting shall we,” Tasha says. “Let’s get down to business.”  
Before the Avengers can move into defensive positions Jarvis alerts them again.  
“Mr. Stark, it appears Modok is hacking into my systems. He is shutting me down, but he has a message for you.” Jarvis goes off-line and Modok commandeers the tower’s communication systems.  
“Greetings, Stark. You and the Avengers have defeated me one too many times. I have had to increase my knowledge of how to best deal with your team.”  
“We’ve beaten you and you’re A.I.M goons before Modork, do you really think this time is going to be any different?”  
“Always so confident, Stark. This time I have a new team of my own to defeat you. They will be the Avengers downfall. Meet them: Detroit Steel the armored soldier, Crossfire, Doughboy, Flag-Smasher, Lady Bullseye, Abomination and Madame Viper.”  
“Really, Modok, you hired a bunch of Masters of Evil rejects, and you’re going to what, bore us to death with intros,” Clint says.  
Cap takes the lead like he did against the Masters of Evil, assigning the team to their opponents.  
“All right listen up Avengers, this is no different than the other super villain teams we’ve beaten. Some of them we even fought as part of the Masters of Evil. Iron Man, you’ve got Detroit Steel, let’s see how he stacks up to your new armor, Hawk, just like last time, you’ve got Crossfire, make it definitive. Thor: the giant ball of dough is yours. Mockingbird, stop Viper, Widow: you and I have the unknowns, Lady Bullseye and Flag-Smasher, War Machine, you’ve got new armor too, let’s see how it stands up to Modok and his technopathy. Hulk-“  
“SMASH!”  
The Avengers all move into battle. As before they work together like a well-oiled machine. Hawkeye is the first to engage his opponent.  
“Come on Cross, you ran away the last time. Do we really have to play this game again?”  
“Zemo wasn’t paying me enough the last time we fought. I’ve been studying you since then Barton. I know you’ve upped your game, so I have I. Your tired old trick arrows aren’t going to work on me this time.”  
“I had a feeling that you would say something like that. So I learned something new.” Clint pulls out a samurai sword Bobbi brought him back from her mission in Japan. “Oh and for a while I became Ronin. I’ve wanted to test this out.”  
Cross starts firing his arrows at Clint. Since learning to use the sword Clint has become an expert, slicing the arrows flying at him in half, as fast as Cross fires them. With his quiver depleted, they move into hand to hand combat. Cross didn’t expect this, but Clint has been training with Steve and the fight ends faster than it began with Cross down for the count. While Clint is finishing up with Cross, Iron Man is busy fighting Detroit Steel. As they take to the skies, Tony hears a familiar voice from the armor.  
“Hey, Stark, you beat my Hammer drones twice before. This time I’ve got a suit of armor better than yours.”  
“Justin Hammer, you never learn. You’re still playing at what Vanko did. I knew you were a geek with armor envy, but this is just pathetic.” Hammer is still over confident and Tony can always use that to his advantage. Firing a new smaller version of the Jericho from his wrist rocket launcher, the Detroit Steel armor is destroyed. “Two down, Six to go guys. Let’s finish it,” Tony says.  
In every previous battle the Hulk has had with Abomination, he has learned how to best channel his anger into strength. Before it was always the madder the Hulk gets the stronger he gets. While the rage still makes him stronger, Bruce is guiding him from inside, pointing out weak spots and pressing the advantage on injuries sustained. The fight ends quicker than ever as Abomination is not only lacking in power, but in strategy. It’s not something the former soldier is used to. Overwhelmed and outmatched, he goes down and this time doesn’t get back up. After he defeated his opponent, the Hulk’s rage has cooled and left Bruce in control but still with the outward appearance of his other self. With three enemies defeated Thor is dealing with the monstrous blob of goo.  
“You can try to swallow me all you want creature, but I am the God of Thunder! With mine enchanted hammer, I strike thee down!” Summoning a bolt of lightning with Mjolnir, Doughboy ends up as a giant fried pancake.  
“Four down, Avengers, Four to go,” Thor says.  
“Well, well, Madame Viper, I always wondered if I’d ever get to face you in battle,” Mockingbird says. “Bet you’re still as easy to defeat as when The Widow beat you in Paris with a roundhouse to the head.”  
“Your friend, The Black Widow got lucky. You won’t be,” she says.  
“Then bring it,” Bobbi engages her in hand to hand combat. While The Viper attempts to use her whip to disable her opponent, Mockingbird is able to use her battle staves to block every attempt. As The Viper becomes increasingly frustrated she throws herself off balance and lets a weakness show. Seeing this Bobbi presses the advantage and hits her with a knee to the stomach, and uppercut to the jaw. “Five down, guys, three to go.”  
Modok begins to see that the battle is not going his team’s way. Five of his cabal have fallen, and the odds are not great for the Flag-Smasher and Lady Bullseye. He does however put his focus on War Machine and he has the edge until Iron Man joins in the battle. With an assault coming from the front and his back, he is unable to use his powers of technopathy which he is normally able to use to take control of the armor. With Tony and Rhodey both firing repulors they defeat Modok and the battle comes down to Cap and The Widow vs. Flag-Smasher and Lady Bullseye. For five minutes Flag and Cap circle each other. As they each size the other up, Flag-Smasher starts to play his hand by verbally attacking Steve.  
“The famous Captain America. Soldier for the elitist fat cats. Patriotism, loyalty, just buzz words to make everyone fall in line. You, like your country's leaders are pathetic. Maybe you should have stayed frozen.”  
“You seem to know a lot about me Smasher. It seems I’m at a disadvantage because I don’t know much about you. I’d guess political anarchist. From your diatribe, you probably believe all nations should fall.”  
“Indeed, anarchy where the people are free to govern themselves however they wish is…” He doesn’t finish his monologue as Steve has put his shield down and gives him a good solid punch to the face ending the fight before it even began, “That’s why you don’t monologue when you have your opponent at a disadvantage,” Steve says.  
Meanwhile Tasha has been sizing up Lady Bullseye. She is armed with four different guns, and she can no doubt turn anything she can get her hands on into a weapon. From the information Modok has given her she thinks she will be able to beat her opponent easily. Her over confidence would cost her as she goes for hand to hand instead of using her weapons.  
“The infamous Black Widow, Modok has told me everything I need to know about you. This will be a very short fight. When I take you down, the job to assassinate Pepper Potts will be even easier,” Bullseye says.  
The thought of what her enemy said spurs Tasha into the fight.   
“Pepper is extremely resourceful. She’s a fighter and she has multiple levels of protection. To get to her, you don’t have to just get through me.”   
Lady Bullseye has been throwing punches and kicks Tasha’s way, but each one has been blocked easily. Tony heard what she had to say about Pepper and he stands ready to back Tasha up. He won’t need to. As her enemy prepares to pull one of her guns, Tasha still had the upper hand and strikes first with a widows bite, neutralizing the threat. Lady Bullseye is down, but still has enough strength to try one more time, leveling another gun at Tasha, just as she fires, Steve’s shield comes flying between the bullet and his wife, protecting her from being shot. Tony provides some help as well with a repulsor blast to the floor beneath their enemy and she falls in the rubble. With his Cabal defeated, Modok begins to transport them away.  
“This isn’t over Stark, my Cabal will return and next time the Avengers will fall.”  
“We’ll be ready for you Modok,” Tony says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed writing this chapter, it draws from the comics some with an enemy of Cap's and Lady Bulls-eye and her mission to assassinate Pepper Potts. This chapter will tie into the fourth part of the story.


	17. A proposal and a party

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepper and Tasha go shopping for the movie night while Tony begs Steve for advice on proposing because even after all he's been through as Iron Man, proposing to Pepper has him terrified.

A week after the battle with Modok and his cabal, the dimensional shifts have ceased. Everything was beginning to get back to normal. Tony still had yet to propose to Pepper. For what seems like the first time in his life he is nervous. Three months in a cave as a prisoner of the Ten Rings didn’t make him nervous, he was determined. When Obadiah became the Iron Monger he was unsettled and angry. Being at death’s door, the anxiety attacks after New York, none of this made him nervous. So he didn’t understand why the question will you marry me had him terrified. Going against his better judgment Tony decides to do something he never thought he would have to, he asks Steve for advice.  
“So Tony is this a business meeting or a personal call,” Steve asks.  
“A little of both. Before I get to why I’m here, Natasha’s not here is she?”  
“Nope, she’s out with Pepper, so it’s just you and me. What’s up?”  
“As the man who got our redhead spy to open up and commit to someone when everyone except Barton thought she was an ice queen, and then proposed to her without even asking the question, I have to ask how did you do it?”  
Ignoring the joke Tony made about Tasha, Steve tries to get to the deeper question the genius is trying to ask. “Look Tony, with Tasha and I it was a connection that neither of us ever had before. I’m a soldier, she’s a spy. It’s not that complicated really, we both spent our lives constantly on guard, never really letting someone in and always afraid to get close. The threat of death was always a factor for us. It’s what we both saw under it all, where we could just let all that go.”  
“Yeah, but how…,” Tony trails off.  
“Okay, obviously you’re here for advice. So this is the best I can give you, Man up and just propose to Pepper. You two have been together longer than Tasha and I, and we always wondered what was taking you so long.”  
“That’s subtle, Rogers, Man Up? Come on what do you think I did when I took my whole Iron Legion to save her?”  
“And then you destroyed all of your suits. That was an incredible gesture. But sometimes, a simple gesture is so much better. Trust me she loved that you did let go of all the armor for her, but the necklace for New Years has been her favorite memory with you thus far.”  
“How did you know about that? I never told anyone.”  
“Pepper did. She told Tasha. Those two have become really great friends. Yet another thing my wife has rarely experienced in her life. Look, I know Happy gave you some words of wisdom, and I’m going to say the same thing. This woman is the best thing that has ever happened to you. So just go for it.”  
“You really do have a great understanding of the opposite sex.”  
“I know how to read people,” Steve says. “Now get out there and figure out how you’re going to do it.” As Tony leaves with Steve’s advice running through his head, Pepper and Tasha are out shopping for the movie night, and having a conversation.  
“Something’s bothering you, Pepper. I can see it,” Tasha says.  
“It’s Tony. I know our lives are always at risk, battles come and go. But every time we’re together even in brief moments of peace, I feel like he wants to ask me something, but he never gets the words out.”  
“You’re waiting for him to propose. You know better than I do that Tony Stark is an extremely complex man. He doesn’t do anything halfway. He’s probably wracking his brain trying to figure out the most extravagant way he can propose.”  
“Yeah, but you and Steve, his proposal that wasn’t actually a proposal was sweet and romantic and thoughtful. It was a simple gesture. To this day a lot of us are still shocked that you said yes, not only without thinking, but you knew he wanted to ask you, and he didn’t want to pressure you.”  
“Pepper, you know that Steve and Tony are two very different men. Tony grew up with a life of privilege, Steve grew up in a single parent household. It’s why he did keep his proposal simple. What’s not different about them is that Tony loves you just as much as Steve loves me. Just give Tony time, when he is ready it will happen.”  
“Thanks for the advice Nat, you know Steve was right about the movie Tony would choose.”  
“Lots of explosions, scantily clad women and the billionaire genius playboy philanthropist gets the girl, huh?”  
“Close, that actually sounds like the plot for a bad movie. No, he a chose James Bond marathon.”  
“Okay, so lots of explosions, scantily clad women and the British super spy saves the world from the villain of the week.”  
“You know Tony better than you think you do,” Pepper says, and she and Tasha break out laughing. As they head back to the tower with the movies and the snacks they meet Steve, Tony, Clint and Bobbi in the new theater Tony had a spare room converted into. Per Tasha’s suggestion, he had the interior wall converted to a giant screen. Bruce and Sam both went home to see friends and family and Thor was returning the tesseract to Asgard. As Steve and Tasha get the drinks and snacks ready Tony pulls Pepper aside to talk. Looking out of the kitchen, Steve knows something is up.  
“Tasha, I think Tony is about to propose to Pepper.”  
“What makes you think that? Did you play matchmaker while we were gone, Rogers?”  
“No, I just gave Tony some advice. He was practically begging me for it.”  
“What did you tell him?”  
“I reminded him that he and Pepper had been together longer than you and I. And while big grand gestures are memorable, simple small gestures make a more lasting impression than blowing up all of your suits of armor.” Tasha looks over at Steve and just stares at him for a minute.  
“You just made me fall in love with you all over again,” she says “How do you do that Rogers?” Steve’s only answer is to wrap his arm around her and give her a kiss on the cheek as they watch Tony propose.  
“Pepper, I know our lives are always going to be in danger. I will always protect you because you will always be the most important person in the world to me. Stane, Hammer and Whiplash, even the Mandarin, none of it matters as long as I have you.” Getting down on one knee, he pulls out a ring, “Virginia Pepper Potts, will you marry me?”  
Pepper gets down on her knees with him and tearfully says yes. Tony slips the ring on her finger and for the second time in less than a year, the Avengers are celebrating an engagement party. As Tasha leaves the kitchen with the snacks she talks to Tony about the proposal. Pepper enters the kitchen to help Steve.  
“So what took you so long genius? You know Pepper has been waiting for this for a while.”  
“I know, there just never seemed to be a right time. Why did you two buy snacks the tower’s kitchen is always fully stocked.”  
“Don’t change the subject, if something is important enough to you, then you make the time. And since you didn’t notice, somebody hasn’t been doing grocery shopping, the fridge and cabinets have been empty for two weeks.”  
“Grocery shopping, how very normal,” Tony says. “Who has time for that.”  
While Tony and Tasha continue talking Pepper is in with Steve having their own conversation.  
“Pepper, you look so happy. I’m glad Tony finally got the courage to man up and propose,” he says.  
“I want to say thank you Steve,” she replies.  
“Thank you for what?”  
“Tony didn’t say anything but I know it was you who gave him the advice on not going over the top, and using a more traditional simple approach to ask me.”  
“Well then I’m glad I could help. I did tell him simple gestures are far better than the giant bunny, or the giant puppy he had planned. So it’s your engagement party, but still movie night, what was it Tony chose?”  
“A James Bond movie marathon, he’s still trying to prove to you that he can enjoy a classic.”  
“Then it better be the Sean Connery Bond movies. Maybe the Pierce Brosnan as well, to me they’re the best actors who ever played Bond.”  
Pepper is surprised at his knowledge of James Bond. Sometimes they all forget how well Tasha and Sam have helped Steve acclimate to the 21st century. Snacks and drinks ready, they all enter the new theater and take seats to watch the movies.  
“Tony I have to say you took my joke about the T.V. too seriously. You actually had a theater built with a full screen for a wall,” Tasha says.  
“Well you were right, an 80 inch television is too pedestrian for movie night.”  
All three couples settle in for the Bond-a-thon as Tony calls it. Steve and Tasha take their customary place on the right side of the large sectional sofa, with Tony and Pepper in the center and Clint and Bobbi on the left. The subject matter is a little more familiar for Tasha, Clint and Bobbi having been spies, but Steve is enjoying the action, and admiring Connery for his skill at playing a spy. As the movies continue on, the first couple to nod off are Steve and Tasha, three movies in. Clint and Bobbi follow suit on the fifth movie. Only Pepper and Tony stay awake through all seven movies. Knowing Steve can’t hear him Tony lets out a joke.  
“And he said I was the one who got bored in classic movies.”  
“Leave him alone Tony, he’s been through a lot the past month,” Pepper lovingly admonishes her fiancé.


	18. Dr. Strange, an announcement and Odin's anger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dr. Strange has returned after defeating, Dormammu, Thor returns from Asgard, and Steve and Nat get a big surprise.

A month has passed since Tony and Pepper got engaged. Steve and Tasha have been married for five months now. Down time for the Avengers has been few and far between, even with the space/time continuum unraveling. With this downtime they see the return of Thor and Dr. Strange.  
“Greetings Avengers,” Dr. Strange says. “Dormammu has been defeated and is trapped in his dark dimension, this time forever.”  
“That’s great Doc,” Tony says. “How did you do it?”  
“I must admit I had a little help. With the barriers between Earths being weakened, Dr. Voodoo and the Silver Surfer were able to help with the battle. But it would be the overconfidence of Dormammu that would be his downfall. He betrayed Surtur and Mephisto as he attempted to destroy all reality. They are now all trapped in the Dark Dimension, still fighting each other for supremacy.”  
“Good, let them stay there,” Clint says. Thor has come back to the tower while Strange is explaining the battle. He is greeted by the Sorcerer Supreme first.  
“Greetings, Thor. The tesseract did prove most useful in my attempts to discover the enemy. I also see you were able to use it to bring your Captain America back.”  
“Aye, Doctor, though my father was less than pleased with its theft. Though we used it for a noble cause, so the punishment given down was not too severe.”  
“I must be off; I thank you for your assistance Avengers,” Strange says.  
“Doc, before you go, I wanted to extend an invitation,” Tony says. “Steve and I agree, we want you to be an honorary Avenger.”  
“That is most generous of you, Mr. Stark. I accept. I will always be here if you need my assistance.” With a spell and a flash of light Dr. Strange disappears.  
“Was Odin really that angry over the theft, Thor,” Clint asks.  
“Aye, Agent Barton. However Sif, Fandral, Hogun, and Volstagg are four of his most trusted warriors. They have proven themselves in battle time and again. Knowing the danger we all faced cooled his anger. The stealing of the tesseract was the lesser of two evils. So worry not my friend, he knew nothing of your part in this.”  
As Thor, Clint, and Tony are discussing the turn of events that saved the universe, Steve and Tasha are up on the medical levels talking with Bruce and one of Tony’s specialists.   
“So you’ve been having bouts of morning sickness again, Nat,” Bruce asks.  
“Yeah, except for that, I feel healthier than ever. Thanks to my hubby’s super soldier serum, I feel great,” she replies.  
“Well, I’m glad that my hypothesis on that was correct. Let’s run a sonogram to see what’s going on in there. Dr., if you please.”  
“Of course Dr. Banner.”  
“So what about me Bruce,” Steve asks, “Will my serum put me in a state of suspended animation if I get injured severely enough like it did for my double?”  
“I wish I had an answer for you on that one Steve. I’m still running tests and looking for variables that could support that conclusion. Don’t worry, even if it doesn’t you’ll probably still outlive us all.”  
As the other Doctor is finishing up the sonogram on Tasha, Steve and Bruce wait for some hopefully good news about her second bout of morning sickness.  
“Well, Captain Rogers, Agent Romanoff, I have some good news for you,” the doctor says. “Congratulations, you’re going to be parents.”  
“I’m…I’m pregnant,” Tasha says. “Okay, now I believe in miracles,” she starts to cry tears of happiness, as Steve wraps his arms around her shoulders.  
“How far along is she,” Steve asks.  
“Well, from the test, Nat, you are about three weeks along right now. Everything looks good, the baby is healthy,” Bruce says.   
As Steve sits down on the bed next to her, she turns to look at him and her green eyes meet his blue eyes again.  
“Steve, this is the second happiest day of my life.”  
“What was the first,” he asks her.  
“The day I married you, we get to have everything we both wanted. Our daughter is going to be the best gift we could ever receive.”  
“I agree, our son is going to be happy and well loved by every member of our family, especially all his aunts and uncles in the Avengers.”  
Bruce and the other doctor leave as Steve and Tasha have a playful argument about the gender of their first child. They both know it’s too early to know if the baby will be a boy or girl, but it doesn’t matter, they know that they will be a happy family and their child will be a blessing. As they leave the medical floor, Bruce is still waiting outside the room.  
“Are you guys ready to announce this to the rest of the team,” he asks.  
“Tasha, do you want to go ahead and let everyone know or…” Steve pauses his statement.  
“Why don’t we, it will be more happy news after Tony proposed to Pepper”, she replies.  
The three of them take the elevator down to the teams’ recreation floor, where Pepper and Bobbi have joined Tony, Clint and Thor. Thinking some emergency situation has arisen since Tasha had been sick again, they all gather around with worried looks on their faces. Normally she would tease them all withholding the information, but she can’t hide her happiness.  
“Everybody, we’ve had a lot of happy moments over the past year and some scary ones. Steve and I getting married, Tony, you finally growing a pair and proposing to Pepper,” of course she has to get one joke in at Tony’s expense before she shares the news, “Clint and Bobbi surprising us all with their wedding as the first major happy event. Steve and I have one more to add to this. Bruce just ran a test on me and we want you all to know that I’m pregnant.”  
Tony realizes Tasha got a good burn in and he isn’t offended by it because they’ve all become more than just a team, they’re a family now. Excitement abounds and they all congratulate their friends on this happy news.  
“Nat, I’m so happy for you two,” Clint says. Bobbi and I may have beat you to the altar, but you and Steve beat us to the full family.”  
“Come on Clint, it’s not a competition,” Steve says.  
Bobbi adds her own joke in: “Uh-oh, Nat, now you’ve got him all baby crazy. I’m going to have to live with this for the next nine months. You know how bad his biological clock is ticking.”  
“Men don’t have biological clocks to tick,” Clint retorts.  
“Says the man who got all giddy at our announcement,” Tasha replies.  
Pepper brings a dose of seriousness back to the conversation with a look at Tony that says don’t even think about it.  
“So how far along are you, Nat?”  
“Three weeks. So don’t get all jumpy about whether it’s a boy or a girl. Steve and I already did that,” she says looking directly at Clint.  
“Hey, I already know the baby is going to be a boy,” Clint says looking back. “Seriously, you think Mister Super Soldier has it in him to actually make a girl?”  
“Actually Clint, I would love a little girl as long as she takes after Tasha,” Steve says with a smile.


	19. Wedding Plans, pregnancy news and Fury

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nick and Phil find out about Nat being pregnant. Fury is unhappy.

By now Nick Fury has gotten the news that his former top agent is pregnant. So has Phil Coulson. Not many things can bring Nick back from being off the grid, but this one does. While he is angry, Phil is supportive.  
“Are you two out of your minds,” Fury shouts immediately after entering Avengers Tower. “I mean, first you start a relationship that puts you both in the public eye more than you already are, you get married, and now you’re having a kid? What the hell is wrong with you two?”  
Before he shouts again Tasha defends the decision she and Steve made.  
“Nick, you were at our wedding, you were supportive of us. Steve and I thought long and hard about this, we’ve weighed the consequences, and we know the risks. When I got the news that the infertility caused by the Red Room was healing and this was a possibility, it made me happier than I’ve ever been. You should be happy for us.” After all this time Natasha Romanoff is still the only agent that can get in Fury’s face and he will back down because of his respect for her.  
“I just want to make sure you know what you’re doing,” he says.   
“Listen, Nick,” Steve says. “Tasha and I know that we both want this. If anything this baby will get the best of both of our serums, he or she will be safe and protected.”  
“Yeah, come on boss,” Phil chimes in, finally able to get a word in after Fury’s tirade ended. “They’re adults, and you were crying at the wedding, Maria told me. Deep down you just wanted Natasha to find happiness too.”  
“I’m not your boss anymore Coulson, but if you ever bring that up again I’ll shoot you,” Nick says with a laugh. Tony comes in and almost immediately walks back out upon seeing Fury.  
“Hold on a minute, Stark,” Fury says.  
“I have to get Jarvis to fix the security protocols so you two stop getting in here,” Tony says. “Are you here to yell at me for proposing to Pepper now? I heard you all the way up on the R&D floors.”  
“No, but you better make sure as the due date gets closer that my top agent is well protected. Otherwise I’ll hunt you down. Now about you taking on missions Agent Romanoff…” Tasha interrupts him.  
“I know what you’re going to say. Don’t take any unnecessary risks. In fact I don’t want you going on any missions at all,” she says doing her best impression of her former commanding officer.  
“Very funny, Natasha, I can’t stop you from going on missions, but be careful. And as for you Coulson, if you happen to need her help for missions, you make sure she has plenty of back-up, because if anything happens to her, the Captain here will be after us.” Steve tries to look menacing, but it comes across all wrong, and Tasha gives him an affectionate punch on the shoulder.  
“We have everything well under control Nick,” Tony says, now if you two are done helping test the limits of my security, Pepper and I have a wedding to plan.”  
“Just remember Stark,” Fury says and then pauses.  
“Yeah, yeah, you’ve got your eye on me.” Nick leaves but Phil hangs around a little bit longer.  
“Don’t worry about Fury you guys. He is still having a little trouble letting go. He’ll be fine, truthfully I think it still bothers him not being in command of SHIELD,” Phil says. Pepper has come down stairs and greets their guest.  
“Phil how are you? You’ve heard the news I take it,” she says.  
“Yes, congratulations on finally getting the playboy to settle down, I wanted to thank you all for the assistance you’ve provided in helping rebuild SHIELD. We’re well on our way to being up and running again, and better than before.”  
“I knew you were the right man for the job, Phil,” Steve says. The door to the tower opens, and a woman no one has seen before walks in.  
“Another security breach, you’re slipping J,” Tony says.  
“I’m sorry sir, but this guest is with Agent Coulson.”  
“Phil, we’re running late. I’ve got a concert to be at.”  
“Of course, Audrey, I just wanted to introduce you to a few friends: Captain Steven Rogers, Agent Natasha Romanoff-Rogers, Tony Stark, and Pepper Potts.”  
“It’s nice to meet you all,” Audrey says. “You must be the Avengers Phil speaks so highly of. Especially you, Captain. He rarely stops talking about how much of a hero you are to him.”  
“Uh-oh, fan boy alert,” Tony says.  
“Thank you ma’am,” Steve says. “Phil is a hero to me for doing what he did to try and stop Loki.” Phil has never heard his idol praise him like this, but it means a lot to hear the world’s first super hero give him credit for just doing his job.   
“Well, we better get going; I do have to get Audrey to her concert. I’ll see you all again soon.” He and Audrey leave, and its Tony who asks the question.  
“Was that the cellist? Phil’s done all right for himself.”  
“That’s her,” Pepper says. “He showed me a photo once. It must have been hard for her when he died. I guess that they are working through that fairly well.”  
On the way to the concert hall, Audrey and Phil are talking.  
“It’s clear that they all respect you. Especially Captain Rogers, when you talk about him, you always sound in awe. He had the same tone of voice about you. Before I forget, I want you to have these.” She pulls out a wrapped gift and hands them to him on the passenger side.  
“Audrey, you didn’t have to get me a gift,” as he opens the package he sees a full set of mint Captain America trading cards. “This is, how did you,” Phil is unable to believe what he is holding in his hands.  
“You’re not the only one who is a fan of Captain America. My dad gave me those years ago. I thought I would give them to you for having your team save me from that stalker again. Now you can get them autographed.”  
“Audrey, this is incredible. After Fury used mine as motivation to get the Avengers to work together, I thought it would take years for me to get this set together again. Thank you.”  
“You’re welcome. So, Agent Romanoff-Rogers, she’s the other agent you can’t stop talking about. That’s Steve’s wife? She’s beautiful.”  
“Yeah I kind of had a hand in getting them together, well I introduced them anyway.”  
“Well you did a good job. They look so happy together.”


	20. Pregnancy Fights

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2 months in for Nat. Strange cravings, morning sickness and yelling at Steve. They also get a big surprise from the first sonogram.

The months start to go by as Tony and Pepper continue planning their wedding. They planned for a ceremony in June since Tasha is due in early July. Steve has taken only a few missions and always close to home so he didn’t have to be too far away. While Tasha’s pregnancy gets further along she begins to get annoyed by all the attention. She has had to stop taking missions and that bothers her a lot as well. She was never cut out for a desk job. Steve is always there when she has her bouts of morning sickness and cooks every strange combination she asks for. Much of time she is biting his head off at every little thing. At 3 a.m. one morning she has a craving.  
“Steve, are you awake?”  
“What is it, sweetheart,” he asks.  
“I have a craving for pickles and onions. This has got to be the weirdest craving ever.”  
“I got you covered; I’ll be back in a minute…”  
“Oh and some rocky road ice cream.”  
As he goes down stairs, he laughs at how everything is proceeding. Bruce told him a lot of strange cravings would happen. Truthfully he thinks to himself that even though she has constantly yelled how much she hates him during every morning sickness bout, he knows this is all worth it. It all comes back to the normalcy, something they don’t get a lot of. As he brings all the food back up to their floor, Tasha thanks him for being so attentive. Then after she eats, she has to throw it all up.  
“Oh, never again do I want that combination,” she says through the vomiting. “I hate you for this Rogers. You had to get me pregnant, didn’t you?”  
Steve just listens and with one hand holds her hair back, and rubs her back with the other. He knows the apologies will come shortly, and like always he will forgive her. Done with this bout, Tasha turns her head slowly to look at him as he carries her back to their bed.  
“Steve, I’m sorry, I don’t hate you. The pregnancy makes me…” she trails off.  
“It’s okay, Tasha, I know you didn’t mean it. We’ll get through this.”  
“How many more months do we have…” she asks as she starts to fall asleep.  
“Just seven more, you’re doing great,” but she has already fallen asleep, so Steve gives her the kiss on the forehead she loves so much and goes back to sleep. Later that morning she and Steve meet with Bruce for her first checkup. As the same specialist from before does the sonogram, Bruce is asking the normal questions about how she is feeling, or if she has any complications. The news they get as the sonogram is completed is exciting, but shocking at the same time.  
“Captain, Agent, with the first trimester we are able to see the baby developing. It is still a little too early to determine the sex, but the babies are healthy and developing just as they should be.”  
Steve’s jaw drops in shock; “I’m sorry, did you say babies?”  
“Yes, Captain, Natasha is carrying twins.”  
“Did you say twins,” Tasha asks, “that’s unlikely, and twins don’t run in either of our families.”  
“Two heartbeats, neither one of which is yours Agent Romanoff,” the doctor says.  
"Which most likely has to do with the super soldier serums. They're developing quicker."  
“Twins, I can’t believe it…” Steve doesn’t finish his thought, he faints. When he comes to, Tasha is worried about him; he took a hard fall to the floor.  
“Steve, are you okay? I’ve never seen you faint before.”  
“I’ll be okay, Tasha. Did I hear right, we’re having twins?”  
“Yes, twins,” the doctor says again, and as he shows them the photo. Steve is about to faint again when Tasha grabs his arm.  
“Don’t you faint on me again, Rogers,” she says, supporting him with one hand. He looks at her holding him up. “What, pregnancy strength.”  
Released from the medical floor, Steve and Tasha go down to the recreation floor. The team is already there minus Bruce who is checking his numbers on the due date and vitals of the babies.  
“Hey guys, we hear you’re having twins, congrats,” Clint says.  
“We didn’t even have a chance to say anything yet, how do you already know,” Steve asks.  
“Come on, old man, Jarvis can’t keep a secret, everything is being monitored here. Besides I planted a bug in the med center, we heard everything.”  
“Well then the proverbial cat is out of the bag. God help us if we have two small Captain America’s running around the tower at all hours of the day,” Tony says.  
“Actually, Tony, I only hope they don’t take after you as they get older,” Steve says not missing Tony’s joke and getting him back with one of his own.  
“Sir, I believe that Captain Rogers just…” Tony cuts him off.  
“Shut up Jarvis.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought this chapter would be an interesting look at how Nat is dealing with being pregnant. Steve gets his head bitten off quite a bit.


	21. Fugitive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Steve gets a call from Phil and has to go on the run just before Nat's birthday.

Tasha is nearing three months into her pregnancy and her birthday is coming around again. Tony and Pepper have decided the day, and the location of their wedding. Tony tries to keep Fury off the guest list, but has no doubts he’ll show up anyway. Pepper sends an invitation to Phil with an option to bring Audrey. As the team has had no crises in the past month, the other shoe is about to drop and it will have an effect no one could see coming.  
“Excuse me Captain Rogers, but I have an urgent communique from Agent Coulson of SHIELD,” Jarvis says.  
“Play it for me, something big must be up.”  
“Captain Rogers, there is a crisis brewing and it directly involves you. Reports have been coming in from all corners of America saying that you have betrayed the American people. Apparently there is video proof of you attacking unarmed civilians, holding up banks, and even beating a police officer nearly to death. We need to meet in a secure location so we can discuss these matters. I only hope I get to you before the team assigned to bring you in. If you think it would be safe, meet me at your cabin in upstate New York. This message is encrypted so no one will be able to hack it or know where you’re going. Coulson out.”  
Steve packs a bag and leaves quickly. He only takes the time to let Tasha know in a note he will be at the cabin meeting with Phil. He encrypts the message again with a code word for her so she will know everything, but asks her not to tell the team about anything but the note. Little does he know the reports will be all over the news and the Avengers will be assigned to bring him in. After an hour ride north he arrives at the cabin and Phil is waiting for him.  
“Captain, glad you could meet me on such short notice. I know this must be difficult for you to process, but I wanted to be the one to let you…”Steve cuts him off.  
“Just get inside and show me the proof you say you have Phil. I had to run off and leave Tasha just before her birthday.”  
After they get inside Phil pulls out all the video and photo surveillance he has obtained. Steve is noticeably shocked at the images that are supposed to be of him.  
“Phil, none of this adds up. You say these are all photos of me and what I’m allegedly doing, but the time date stamps on them, I was at the tower when all of these were taken. This one here,” Steve points to a specific photo, “This was the day you and Audrey came to the tower, and Nick was there as well. There has to be some mistake.”  
For the first time, Phil doesn’t address his hero as Captain, but by his first name.  
“Steve, I know you’re worried, I can vouch for you on this photo. So can your team. I’ve got my agents checking everything, Skye is even running the photos through every computer program she knows checking to see if these are fakes. So far what we think is that someone is impersonating you. It’s the only logical conclusion.”  
“So what do I do, just hide out. You know that’s not my style, Phil. I have to bring this guy in, whoever he is.”  
“Not a good idea, people are going to be looking for you, and they won’t ask questions, they’ll take you down.”  
Meanwhile back at the tower the rest of the Avengers are watching the news and see the reports about their friend and leader.  
“We have breaking news to tell you about. It appears Captain America has turned against his team and his country. We warn you that the following photos and videos are extremely graphic.”  
The video plays and not one of the team believes Steve did any of this. Checking the times and days the videos were recorded they know Steve was with them the whole time. Tasha gets extremely angry, and Clint has to help her calm down.  
“How can any idiot believe that Steve would do these things,” Tasha says. “He doesn’t have it in him. There has got to be some other explanation for all of this.”  
“Nat, calm down. We all know Steve is innocent, if he’s with Phil like he said in his note, they’re trying to figure this out. When they do, he’ll come back, and it will be after he puts a hurting on whoever is trying to frame him.”  
“This just in, President Ellis is preparing to convene a special senate subcommittee to address the actions of Captain America. He requests that the Avengers appear at the hearing and word is he will personally appoint them to bring the Captain in.”  
“Well, things just went from bad to worse for us,” Tony says. “Nat, whatever they do, whatever they say, don’t tell them anything about what you know.”  
“I don’t intend to Tony. I’ll protect Steve whatever it takes.”  
The Avengers receive the summons a few hours later, they are all to report to D.C. for the hearing, none of them really know what to expect. When they arrive the only Avenger the committee asks to speak to is Tasha. The others know this is a cop-out, but they don’t know if her relationship with Steve will be at the forefront of the interrogation. Knowing that any knowledge revealed in there could help them tremendously, Clint and Tony have her take a small listening device in with her. As a Stark made bug, it will be completely undetectable.  
“Agent Romanoff, do you know why you’re here,” asks the one of the Senators.  
“I do, I’m here to be asked for any information in regards to the actions of Captain Steven Rogers or if I know where he is at the given time. I thought President Ellis was going to be in charge of this hearing.”  
“A few things have changed since you received the summons. So shall we get this underway?”  
“Ask me what you want to know. If you believe the photos that were taken I can assure you during the times all these events occurred Captain Rogers was at Avengers Tower. We can all vouch for this.”  
“Be that as it may, these are serious charges against the Captain. We have not been able to locate him. If you know where he is, we would ask that you convince him to turn himself over to give his own version of these accounts.”  
“So you can place him in front of a firing squad?”  
“Agent Romanoff, no one is talking about punishment without due process. We simply want to question him…” Tasha interrupts.  
“With all due respect, many of you were at my hearing after the events with SHIELD and HYDRA. President Ellis granted me clemency for my past actions as I helped this very government take down key personnel from the Red Room that used me as a weapon, back when I defected and joined SHIELD.”  
“These prior events are not the issue here Agent. The actions of your friend and team leader are. Please tell us what you know, so we can ascertain the truth and have Captain Rogers speak in his own defense.”  
“Captain Rogers vouched for me at my own hearing. I am here vouching for him. I don’t know where he is. If I did, I would encourage him to fight to discover who is attempting to frame him for which he has been branded a fugitive from the very country he has given his life to serve.”  
“Agent Romanoff, you are close to being held in contempt, if you do not help us, think about the consequences. The clemency granted to you by President Ellis will have no bearing. We are aware of your condition, and I would hate to have your child taken away from you and to sentence you to life in a federal prison for your crimes.”  
Outside the hearing chamber, the Avengers are all appalled at the threat that was just made to one of their own.  
“If it wouldn’t make Cap look guilty, I’d fire a smoke arrow at that whole group, for threatening Nat,” Clint says. Not to mention the fact that we would be branded as traitors as well.”  
“Calm down Clint, Nat’s been through this before. She can handle it,” Tony says.  
“It’s not fair, they’re not talking about questioning Steve, they’re talking about destroying his life.” The entire team drops into silence as President Ellis arrives, visibly angry at being left out of the very committee he called.  
“Good afternoon, Avengers. I see they left you out of the chance to vouch for Captain Rogers. This is in direct violation of my request. Where is Agent Romanoff?”  
“She’s in there being interrogated by your goon squad,” it is Tony who makes this statement.  
“Mr. Stark, I assure you that this goon squad as you called them is not acting in the best interests of your team. They just want someone to blame. If you will excuse me, I need to make my case to defend the Captain and your team.”  
As he enters the chambers, Tony asks Rhodey what to expect.  
“Rhodey, can we trust him to do the right thing by us and Steve?”  
“Look Tony, I know you’re still not a fan of the suits in there, especially after they tried to take your armor, but President Ellis is one of Cap’s strongest supporters. We saved his life during the Mandarin incident. He’ll do the right thing.”  
President Ellis stands quietly at the back of the chamber, listening while Tasha, though angry, calmly tells the committee what she thinks of their threat.  
“I can understand why you would use such a threat, but if anyone makes an attempt to take my children from me there will be hell to pay. You have no authority to make such a threat.”  
“Agent Romanoff, we seem to have struck a chord in you, just know that if you do not comply…” Ellis has heard enough and speaks up in defense of the young woman sitting before the senate.  
“Excuse me, but Agent Romanoff is correct. You have no authority to threaten her in regards to her unborn children. Moreover, this woman has helped protect this country more than any of you. How many tours of duty did any of you serve?”  
“Mr. President, we just want to know…” The head of the committee is interrupted again.  
“You just want to blame her and the rest of the Avengers for the actions of a rogue imposter. I have met Captain Rogers, and I can vouch that he is not the type to betray his country. Now you have said that the clemency I granted Agent Romanoff will have no bearing if you decide to hold her in contempt. As President, I hereby pardon her for all her transgressions that were done in defense of her homeland when she was a victim of the K.G.B.”  
“But sir, you can’t just…”  
“I just did. End of discussion. Now you may continue, if you have any further questions.”  
The senate committee has fallen completely silent at what President Ellis just did.  
“We have no further questions. You’re dismissed Agent Romanoff.”  
Tasha walks out of the hearing chamber with her head held high. She is thankful for the defense President Ellis gave for her, Steve and the Avengers. As she meets with her friends, they are all proud of her for how she stood up to the senators.  
“Wow, Nat, you really did a number on them. I bet they believed you really did know where Steve was, even though you didn’t,” Clint says. “I bet if he could have seen this he would be proud of how you handled the situation.”  
“Yeah, Nat, now we can get back to helping him catch his impostor, after we find out where he is,” remarks Tony.  
“I do know where he is. I never said I didn’t. We’ve been communicating through burner phones,” Tasha says. “We didn’t want to keep you all in the dark, but it was necessary.”  
“Don’t worry about that. Clint and I understand, it’s imperative sometimes for spies like us,” Bobbi says.  
“So what’s next,” Sam asks.  
“We keep things quiet while Steve and Phil do what they set out to do,” Tasha says.


	22. On The Run

A week after the hearing Steve and Phil were no closer to catching the imposter. Skye had been able to determine that the photos were legitimate. The waiting was beginning to drive Steve crazy until a message from Coulson’s team came through with some promising news. An alert is sent to his phone from Agent May.  
“Phil, we’ve been able to find a pattern in the imposter’s crimes. He has been hitting locations Captain America was fighting in back during the war. From there the trail leads to the western hemisphere. If the pattern is correct, New York will be his next target.”  
“Wait a minute, New York? I’ll admit that New York was where I first became Cap, this can’t be the pattern,” Steve says.  
“Hey A.C.,” Skye messages him. “I just picked up some amateur video of the Captain fighting. The location is in Paris.”  
“Skye, when was the video taken, what’s the time and date stamp say?”  
“That’s just it, this video is being transmitted live. Whoever this imposter is, he’s fighting some guy with a metal arm.”  
“A metal arm Skye, is there anything on the shoulder of his arm,” Steve asks.  
“How did you know…” she pauses. “Yeah, there’s a star, looks like it’s painted on. Don’t tell me that means something to you Captain.”  
“Stand by, Skye, I need to talk to Captain Rogers about this,” Phil replies. “Steve, who is it?”  
“It’s Bucky. He must have caught word of this and been on the trail. Ever since D.C. and he got his memories back, he’s been trying to make amends.”  
“Wait, wasn’t he the Winter Soldier. He tried to kill you.”  
“That’s what he is trying to amend for. I knew I’d get my friend back.”  
“Hey guys,” Skye interrupts them. “This soldier just kicked the crap out of your imposter Cap. He’s got him trussed up like a thanksgiving turkey. He’s getting on board a jump jet. After a pause she says: “I just lost them.”  
“Try and track them Skye. We need to find out where Bucky is taking this fugitive,” Phil tells her.  
“On it, I’ll report back if I find something.”  
A few minutes later Steve and Phil hear a jet land outside the cabin. Dousing the lights, they prepare for an attack. When it doesn’t come, they hear a muffled grunt at the front door, and then the jet taking off again. Phil slowly opens the door, and at his feet is the imposter, with a note for Steve stuck to his back. He hands it back to Steve who reads it.  
“Steve, I told you I’d always have your back. Part of me wanted to kill this man for attempting to tarnish your reputation. I knew that wasn’t how you would play it, so I did it your way. I hope at long last I have earned redemption in your eyes. You may never see me, but I’m with you to the end of the line.”  
Blue Jay.  
Looking up at the sky and catching a faint trail of the jet fumes left Steve solemnly says to his long gone friend: “Redemption was earned a long time ago, Bucky. You’ve earned your freedom. I don’t have to see you to know you’ll be there. Good luck.”  
“Captain, we should get going. We need to bring this fugitive in so we can clear your name,” Phil says. “You can load your bike on my jump jet.”  
“What jump jet, Phil?”  
“This one.” The jet lands, Agent Melinda May opens the rear hatch, and she and Skye step out.  
“It’s an honor to meet you Captain,” May says. “Sometimes Phil can’t shut up about you.”  
“I thought Thor was dreamy,” Skye says. “He may be a Thunder God, but you’re the all American boy next door.”  
“Careful Skye. Captain Rogers is married. You don’t want to piss his wife off,” Phil says.  
Steve is more than a little embarrassed by the attention and he blushes.  
“Thank you, I think,” he says looking back at Skye. “You know Phil, I think your young apprentice here might benefit from some tutelage from Tasha. She seems to already be an excellent hacker. How would she like to learn from the best SHIELD has to offer?”  
“Wait a minute, you want to let me train with Natasha Romanoff? The Natasha Romanoff, the one and only Black Widow,” Skye says as she begins to get all fan girl.  
“She really is just like you Phil,” Steve says. “It reminds of me of your whole watched you while you were sleeping comment about me.”  
This time it is Phil’s turn to be embarrassed, and May has a word of advice for Skye.  
“You could do worse than learning from her. Agent Romanoff is one of the few who can best me in hand to hand combat.”  
“Did she ever fight Ward,” Skye asks, clearly still angry at him for using her.  
“No, Ward wouldn’t have had half a chance. She probably would have killed him with a fingernail,” May replies. Skye’s respect for Tasha just jumped up times ten.  
“Come on guys, let’s get moving,” Phil says having regained his composure.  
The jump jet takes off for New York and Avengers tower. En route Phil sends a message to the team for Jarvis to deliver.  
“Mission complete. The imposter has been apprehended. The Eagle is on his way home.”  
With a brief stop at the Vault to drop off the prisoner, Steve is able to clear his name by removing the mask of the imposter. All that matters to him now is seeing Tasha and getting back to a somewhat normal life.


	23. Skye meets her idol

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Coulson, Skye and May arrive at the tower with Steve. May and Skye get to meet the rest of the Avengers. Skye is most excited to meet Nat.

When the jet landed at the tower, Tony and Clint were waiting. The four passengers disembarked, being asked to prepare for a briefing. Steve insisted any such recap would have to wait as he wanted to see Tasha and check on their babies. The briefing on hold, Tony decides to give Agents May and Skye a tour of the tower. The see the situation room, the residential floors, the team recreation area, and the R&D labs. They’ve met Bruce, Clint, Sam, Bobbi, Rhodey, and of course Thor, they were both impressed with him. May of course has never been one for Tony Stark’s bluster; she prefers action as opposed to sitting at a desk surrounded by all the tech. Skye finds that she could get lost in here and imagines all that she could do with access to this building. She decided to ask Tony a question, but not about what he expects.  
“Mr. Stark, when do I…”  
“Get to try out all this equipment, Skye?”  
“No I was going to ask when do I get to meet Agent Romanoff. I hear that she can hack any system created.”  
“Everyone wants to meet the spy,” Tony says with a sigh. “When you meet her ask her about the time she hacked Justin Hammer’s computer system and broke the War Machine armor free from Ivan Vanko’s control. Jarvis, is Agent Romanoff at a point where she can receive visitors?”  
“Of course sir, she is on the residential floor in her office working. She says they are free to come up.”  
Thanks J. Just take the elevator, Jarvis will get you there,” Tony says.  
Skye and May depart for the elevator, as Clint takes this moment to chide Tony.  
“What’s the matter, genius? A little depressed that our guests weren’t more interested in you?”  
“Oh how very funny Clint. My ego isn’t that big anymore now that Pepper and are I engaged. She finds a way to help keep my ego in check.”  
“Ouch, I never thought Tony Stark would give himself a burn.”  
After the elevator arrived at Tasha’s floor, Jarvis directed them to her apartment, where they could meet her.  
“Excuse me Agent Romanoff, but your guests have arrived. Shall I let them in?”  
“Go ahead Jarvis,” she says. May is the first in so Tasha greets her first.  
“Agent May, welcome to Avengers tower.”  
“Agent Romanoff, it’s been too long. Care for a sparring session to show the rookie how it’s done?”  
“That’s not going to be possible at the moment,” Tasha says coming around from behind her desk, showing that she is pregnant.  
“When did this happen Natasha? Who tamed the Black Widow,” May asks.  
“You know that the Black Widow can never be tamed. But she can give her heart to someone when she finds the right one. I’m four months along now.”  
“Another time then, I’d like to introduce you to someone. This is Agent Skye, Phil’s protégé. She hacked Cybertek’s systems with a beat up ten year old laptop.”  
“I’ve heard of Cybertek, they were in charge of the Deathlok project, right,” Tasha asks.  
“You know about all that? I thought Coulson kept that all hush-hush top secret.”  
“Phil can’t keep much secret, not from me anyway. You did a great thing by helping Mike Peterson and saving his son.”  
Skye is visibly excited that Natasha Romanoff knows about what she was able to do. She is getting praise from someone Phil talks about constantly. Even the fact that her new idol is pregnant, doesn’t stop her from wanting to ask questions, until Captain America walks in to the office, shocking both May and Skye.  
“Hey, Tasha, how are you feeling, any more morning sickness, sweetheart?” He stops as he sees their guests and is embarrassed again remembering Skye’s comment at the cabin.  
“A little bit. Even though we were communicating through the burner phones I missed you. It was a relief that you were able to clear your name by turning in the imposter.”  
Steve and Tasha talk like it’s all normal and the most natural thing in the world, because for them it is. For Skye and May, however, they expected The Black Widow to be with someone like Agent Barton, not a public super hero like Captain America.  
“Okay, wait a minute Natasha,” May says. “Are you going to stand here and tell me that you and Captain Rogers are married, and he is the father?”  
“Is that so hard to believe,” she replies.  
“Well, you’re a spy, it kind of makes a little more sense that if you were with someone, he would be just as secretive as you. Not someone who is a soldier with his life constantly in the open, no offense, Steve.”  
“None taken, ma’am. Truth is that I’ve always had to keep my guard up, as a soldier, I could really never know who outside of the commandos I could trust. I had to keep people at a distance, build walls to protect myself and my men. Sometimes when you get close to people…” he pauses and Tasha finishes for him.  
“You can lose them. It hurts, Steve knows that better than anyone. You’ve known me for a long time May. It’s just the same for me. This is what drew us together.” When Steve puts his hand on her shoulder, she takes it with a gentle squeeze. “It’s really a sense of being complete.”  
“But what about the two of you,” Skye asks. “Aren’t you afraid of something bad happening. I mean what if one of you doesn’t come home from a mission? Wouldn’t that hurt as much?”  
“The threat of death is a constant in our lives,” Steve tells her. “After being frozen nearly seventy years I learned that sometimes when you’re given a chance, you have to take the risk. It’s better to risk it all, than wonder what if for the rest of your life.”  
“Coulson said you were always full of words of wisdom,” Skye says. “So do you know the sex of the baby yet?”  
“No, we’re waiting until the twins are born to find out,” Steve replies.  
“Skye, I think we’ve been here long enough. Perhaps we should let Steve and Natasha get some rest,” May says.  
“Before you go, Skye, how would you like to spend some time learning from me. I heard about Ward, and I would have loved to kill him with just a fingernail,” Tasha says while winking at May. “Learning from me might help you as you work to gain higher levels of clearance in the new SHIELD.”  
“Can I really? Do you think Coulson would let me,” she asks.  
“I’ll clear it with him. Steve and I could use some help around here. Besides, it might be time for all of you to have a place you can call home for a while.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Seeing as how much of a fan of Steve that Coulson is, I thought having Skye having the same ideas about Nat would make for an interesting dynamic. Tony gets a little upset about Skye being more interested in meeting Nat, than exploring and testing the equipment at the tower. And of course May and Skye meet Thor, still think he is dreamy, referenced from an Agents of SHIELD episode.


	24. More House Guests

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Phil's entire team moves into the tower. Tony gets his own fan boy in Leo Fitz.

Tony wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea of Phil’s entire team moving in to the tower. Even though Fitz impressed him with his knowledge of Stark Tech, having more guest rooms set up took away some of the R&D facilities on the upper levels. Fortunately Fitz and Simmons began sharing a room, since they had been dating for a while now. It was worked out so Triplett was given a room on the same floor as Steve and Tasha. Learning that Trip was the grandson of Gabe Jones, it gave him someone to talk to about the Howling Commandos adventures after he went under. Tasha found a way to convert her office into a bedroom for Skye. In the end, this did help serve to ease Tony’s mind about the space constraints. But he really had to admit he liked having his own fan boy who looked up to him. And Bruce helped Simmons with anything and everything related to her field. Agents Coulson and May returned to the base but check in periodically, calling if they need any help.  
“I have to say Fitz, these remote droids you built are incredible,” Tony says.  
“I based them off one of your designs. You of course took it one step further with Jarvis controlling all your suits of armor.”  
“Listen, if you ever get tired of being a SHIELD agent, I’m sure Pepper and I can find you a place at Stark Industries.”  
“That would be fantastic Mr. Stark. I think I’ll stay with SHIELD for now though.”  
Pepper walks in interrupting the conversation, needing to go over wedding plans with Tony.  
“Hey, Leo, I hope you don’t mind but I need to borrow Tony. We’ve still got a lot of planning to do with our wedding in two months.”  
“Of course Ms. Potts. Mr. Stark do you mind if I stay here and use the floor to improve the programming on my remote units?”  
“Knock yourself out, kid. But I think your girlfriend might come to tear you away.”  
Tony and Pepper leave and when they are out of earshot, she compliments Fitz.  
“You know he reminds me of you. Intelligent, always striving to improve, he’s a good kid,” she tells Tony.  
“But…” Tony inquires.  
“Just don’t let your old womanizing ways rub off on him,” Pepper teases Tony.  
“Honey, you know those days are over. Besides he’s got a great girl in Simmons. Those two are like peas in a pod. She reminds me of you.”  
“Another rare compliment from Tony Stark. Why thank you sir.”  
While Tony and Pepper are finalizing the wedding plans, Tasha is teaching Skye how to hack even the most secure systems.  
“So that’s how I hacked Hammer’s systems. He really had shoddy security though. Vanko didn’t know what hit him, because if I had a few more minutes after freeing Rhodey’s armor, I could have hacked into his suit as well, and made him a puppet,” Tasha says.  
“Wow, I thought I knew a lot about computers, I’ve learned more from you in one day, than I learned in five years of computer classes,” Skye compliments Tasha’s abilities. Trip and Steve come in after finishing stories about the commandos.  
“Hey Skye, you want to grab some lunch,” Trip asks.  
“Yeah, I’ll be down in a minute. Let me just finish up with Agent… Natasha,” she says remembering Tasha told her to stop calling her Agent Romanoff.  
“Is there something going on between you and Agent Triplett, Skye,” Steve asks.  
“Nothing Cap, he’s just a friend. Ward kind of shook my confidence and my ability to trust,” she says.  
“Well he seems to like you. If you want to regain your confidence and trust in someone, you could start with him.”  
“You know that’s not a bad idea. Thanks guys, I’ll see you later.” She leaves to go meet Trip for lunch.  
“She’s a really good kid, Tasha, she looks up to you.”  
“I know, Steve. She’s hardly a kid though, she’s only five years younger than me.”  
“I know, sometimes I slip back into my old man habits, I am 97 now after all.”  
“Yeah but you still don’t look a day over 29,” Tasha replies. After their shared joke, Tasha feels a little pain.  
“Steve, call Bruce, something’s up.”  
Bruce comes down from the medical floor with equipment to perform a sonogram after Steve called him. Checking the vitals and the heartbeats he finds nothing wrong.  
“You’re all right, Nat. The pain was just one or both of the babies kicking. It’s common. I’m surprised it didn’t happen sooner,” Bruce says.  
“Yeah, well it feels like a jackhammer is trying to bust my intestines,” Tasha replies.  
“You’re getting close to six months in Nat, and you’re doing great. I imagine the hard kicks have something to do with the serums in their blood stream. It’s their way of saying they’re hungry,” Bruce tells her.  
“Steve, can you get me some apples, and some peanut butter?”  
“That sounds a little more normal than pickles, onions and rocky road. Be right back, Tasha.” Bruce looks at her inquisitively.  
“Pickles, onions and rocky road ice cream?”  
“Three months in, never going to have that combo again, long story and really bad idea.”  
“I think I got the gist of it. How did Steve react?”  
“Just as you would expect he did,” Tasha jokes. “No, he’s been great. I wouldn’t change anything.”


	25. Last mission

With a month and half to go before the wedding and impending birth, The Avengers are all abuzz for the bachelor and bachelorette party. Being Tony’s oldest friend, Rhodey was chosen as best man. Pepper wanted to choose Tasha as maid of honor, but with the due date getting closer she had to be on more bed rest, though she wasn’t happy about it, so Bobbi took over to help. However things would not be as peaceful as they would hope as Steve was assigned one more mission, and what happened would not be what he expected. After a rare relaxing night together Steve would be called away the next morning.  
“Morning, beautiful,” he says as Tasha wakes up, he has breakfast prepared for them.   
“Good morning sweetheart, you made Russian Syrniki again,” she says.  
“I did, it’s a cold morning. I thought you’d like something warm; I also made hot chocolate for us. Would you like something else?”  
“No, this is perfect,” Tasha says smiling at Steve. She motions for him to sit down beside her and they relax eating breakfast, while she reclines, leaning her head on his shoulder. “So you were up really early today, but I know it’s too cold for your customary morning run. What’s going on?”  
“I’ve been asked to meet with the Senate subcommittee. It’s been only a month since the hearing, and I cleared my name, so I’m not sure what this is about.”  
“I’m sure it’s nothing to worry about, Steve. Maybe they want to apologize for the accusations of you betraying your country.”  
“I wish it were that simple. They almost tore our lives apart. What if this time…”  
“Ssshh,” Tasha interrupts him. We’ve dealt with this before; The Red Skull couldn’t tear us apart. The Masters of Evil, The Cabal, we’re stronger than all of this because we’re together. All we need is each other and the Avengers. As long as we have that, we can overcome anything.”  
“You’re right; I can always believe you when you say that, Tasha.”  
“Because it’s always true, go on I’ll be here when you get back. Skye needs some help with setting up new covers for Phil and the team.”  
Before Steve leaves he looks back and gives Tasha a smile, she knows it’s a little cheesy but she draws a heart in the air and then points at him. When he is on his way to the hearing he is attacked by a new adversary.  
“Well, well if it isn’t the soon to be ex-Captain America. Get ready to be the former symbol of freedom.”  
“Who are you? What purpose do you have in attacking me two blocks from my home? By the way your tailor made a very cheap knock off of my uniform.”  
“You know, who I am isn’t really important. How you survived the bullet wound I gave you during your battle with the Wrecking Crew is. I saw you fall and breathe your last. None of your team even knew where the shot came from.”  
“You shot the wrong Captain then. And he survived as well. You’re either very dumb, or you simply didn’t do your homework.”  
“No matter, I could kill you now, but then you wouldn’t make it to the hearing to find out what the senate wants to tell you. See you there. Oh and by the way, you can call me the Super Patriot,” he says taunting Steve as he walks away.  
Steve throws his shield trying to disable his mystery opponent, but showing that he has done his homework very well, he catches the shield and throws it back, before leaping to the roof tops. Continuing on his way, Steve thinks about the words of this man.   
“Former symbol of freedom, ex-Captain America, this Super Patriot doesn’t know who he’s dealing with. If he really wants a fight, I’ll give him one.”   
Steve arrives at city hall in New York City. The small inconvenience with this adversary made him late. He is normally early for everything. Smoothing out his uniform and entering the makeshift hearing chamber, he gets ready for the news. As he surveys the room and the senators, to the left of the desks he sees the man he just fought.  
“Good afternoon, Captain Rogers. You are late for this hearing,” the senate chairman says.  
“Excuse me Senator, but the reason I am late is the man to your left. He attacked me without provocation on the way here and…”  
“He attacked you on our request. His attack was nothing more than a way to test you. You are distracted Captain. Your marriage to the Black Widow and the impending birth of your children has become a hindrance to your ability to do your job and defend this nation.”  
“I had a feeling you knew of my relationship. It has in no way affected what I do to defend this country from all threats, both foreign and domestic, which I believe includes this so called Super Patriot.”  
“Be that as it may, you were on the run and a fugitive. This is not the first time you have been accused of treason. At this point we believe it is time to name a new Captain America. You Steven Rogers are relieved of duty, and the Super Patriot is our choice to take your place.”  
Steve almost loses his composure, and is extremely angry at the actions of this committee.  
“You have no authority to do this. President Ellis has vouched for me and he would be…” The chairman interrupts Steve again.  
“It is President Ellis who has no authority here. You will turn over your uniform and your shield. You are discharged from duty.”  
For the first time ever, totally losing control, Steve reacts with all the anger he has inside.  
“You can have my shield when you pry it from my cold, dead, hands. This shield was made for me by Howard Stark. I refuse to relinquish it.”  
“We thought you might say that. We don’t need your shield or uniform. We have had already prepared new equipment for your replacement.”   
Steve leaves the chambers to return to the tower to let his team know all that has transpired. For only the second time since he awoke into this new century he is no longer sure of where his place is. The only thing that he is sure of is Tasha and their soon to be born children. As he arrives he tries to gather his thoughts, but can’t answer any questions from the others until he sees Tasha. When he enters their apartment, she notices his entire demeanor has changed and she is truly worried about what is coming next.  
“Skye, could you excuse us for a moment,” Steve says.  
“Sure, Cap. Natasha, if you need me, just buzz my phone,” Skye says as she leaves.  
He sits down on the bed, and buries his head in his hands. Tasha moves into a position where she can lean her chin on his shoulder with her arms wrapped around him.  
“Steve, what’s wrong? What happened at that hearing?”  
“On my way there I was attacked, he calls himself the Super Patriot.”  
“Who the Hell does this guy think he is attacking you. He had no right to do that,” Tasha says angrily.  
“That’s not all; the attack was just a test. When I got to the hearing, I learned the senators had set up the attack. They say that our marriage and our future children have hindered my ability to perform my duties. Tasha, they discharged me. This Super Patriot is my replacement. He was also the one who shot my double.” She is now furious, but desperately trying to keep calm.  
“That’s ridiculous. Our marriage doesn’t hinder anything you do. What gives them the right to do this? President Ellis vouched for you. They can’t strip you of anything without his approval. There’s something else at play here. I’ve been a spy long enough to know that this can’t be random.”  
“They said Ellis had no authority. Being Cap is a part of who I am. I’ve got you and our babies, and you’re all I need. But I can’t shake the feeling someone else is behind this. I’m worried that Ellis is in danger. If they came after me, what if they go after him too.”  
“Steve, no matter what anyone says or does; you will always be Captain America. We’re going to find out who is behind this. When we do, we’ll take them down.”  
Back at City Hall, all of the senators have left the room. All that remain behind are the Super Patriot and the senate committee chairman.  
“I think that went rather well, Captain America is finished, The Patriot says. “At least now I can remove this stupid costume,” as he takes off the mask, revealing himself to be Brock Rumlow, the senator also removes the mask he is wearing revealing himself to be the Red Skull.  
“You have done well, Crossbones,” the Skull says. “When you helped me escape from prison I knew I had found the right man to join me in the New HYDRA.”  
“This HYDRA had better be superior to the last one. Alexander Pierce was an idiot. He got played by Fury and the Black Widow. One thing though, if I see you attempt to bring back any of that Nazi B.S. I walk.”  
“The Nazis were just a means to an end. HYDRA was always meant to rule over everything. Cut off one head and two more shall take its place.”


	26. Ellis, Rhodes and revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Rhodes get into a fight. Cap, Iron Man, and War Machine confront their enemies.

After Steve had finished explaining everything to the rest of the team, they had all become extremely furious. After all he had done as Captain America they couldn’t believe he’d just been cast aside like that. As their collective anger started to subside they all tried figuring out which enemy of theirs could have planned something like this. Tony went a different route and decided to blame President Ellis. The fight that would erupt between him and Rhodes would be one not soon forgotten.  
“If you ask me,” Tony says, “I think President Ellis had something to do with this.”  
“Come on, Tony; look at how he defended Natasha at the hearing. He vouched for all of us. Do you really think he could have had any involvement in this? It’s just not part of his character,” Rhodey says.  
“I know he wasn’t aware of the corruption in his own administration during the Mandarin incident. Who’s to say defending us wasn’t just a ploy to get to Cap anyway.”  
“Look Tony, we’ve been over this. You hate politicians, I get it. But President Ellis was just as much a victim of Killian as you and Pepper were. I refuse to believe he had anything to do with this.”  
“Rhodey, we’ve been friends for a long time, but here lately I question where your loyalties are. You’re an Avenger now, get your head on straight.”  
“My loyalties are exactly where they need to be. I don’t need you telling me to get my head on straight. I may be an Avenger, but if I can’t expect your help, I’ll find out the truth about Ellis on my own.” Rhodey turns his back and storms out of the tower, leaving the rest of the team in shock.  
“That was a little harsh, Tony,” Steve says. “He’s a soldier, just like I was. Loyalty to God and Country are his priorities.”  
“Rhodey and I have been through this before. I know what he needs to do to work this out on his own. He needed a push.”  
“Still the way you could have done it…” Tony interrupts him before he can finish.  
“Look, Steve; he knows what he’s doing. He’s not really angry, he’s motivated. He’ll find out who is behind this and he’ll be back.”  
Just as Tony predicted, Rhodey was following up on every lead he could find. He tracked down each of the senators involved in the hearing. Most of them ended up just being pawns of the chairman. With those leads having dried up he meets with the President, to get to the truth of it all.  
“Thank you for seeing me on such short notice Mr. President,” Rhodey says.  
“It’s no problem, son. I’m glad to be able to help the Avengers in any way I can.”  
“Look, I know you don’t have a lot of time, so I’ll get right to the point. I’m investigating a Senator who recently discharged Captain America of duty. He was aided with a test attack by someone calling himself the Super Patriot. This senator named this man Cap’s replacement. Does your administration know anything about this?”  
“What exactly are you saying Colonel? I know that my Vice President was in league with Killian. You helped get that information to me. But I assure you we have no knowledge of this situation. Whoever is in charge of this is acting without the approval of this office.”  
“So what are we talking about, most likely more infiltration like HYDRA in SHIELD.”  
“Whatever it is, I can promise you that I will not stand idly by if there is a threat. Right now though, the best thing Captain Rogers can do is go off the radar. Sooner or later these imposters will make a mistake. When they do I fully expect that the Iron Patriot will be there to take them down.”  
“The Iron Patriot armor is out of service right now sir. This is a battle, and it needs a War Machine.”   
“Colonel, before you leave, I request that you give these designs to the Captain when you see him again. He may find them useful.”  
Rhodey makes this a strong declaration and leaves the President’s office. Across town Crossbones is suiting up in his new Captain America uniform, ready to destroy the reputation of his predecessor.  
“Remember, Crossbones; it is not enough to simply remove our enemy from the battle field. We must crush his reputation as well,” The Skull says. “Where the other imposter failed, you will succeed.”  
“After the elevator fight I’ve been looking for a way to get my revenge. You’re sure no one else knows of this?”  
“All the other Senators had no idea what we were planning. Threats to their families keep them silent.”  
“What about Ellis, he has personally met the Captain. Won’t he know something is different about his personal attack dog?”  
“He is a fool, a far greater fool than the Captain himself. Soon he will be replaced as well.”  
Rhodey returns to the tower with news about the President and the next move they should all take. Tony greets him upon his return.  
“Hey buddy, I knew you’d be back. What did you find out?”  
“The President knew nothing about this. Our plan worked like a charm.”  
Steve enters the room and listens to the conversation.  
“So this was a plan you two had all along. What does the President want me to do,” Steve asks.  
“Right now, he wants you to go off the radar. He thinks this might help.” Rhodey hands Steve the designs the President gave him. Flipping through them he sees the very uniform his replacement was wearing when he first attacked him.  
“This is the Super Patriot uniform. How did he get this?”  
“It’s not the exact same uniform. The look is similar, but it’s far more tactical and designed for stealth. It was a contingency plan, for exactly something like this after the last imposter situation.”  
“So I go undercover as him, and hopefully they make a mistake,” Steve says.  
“All right, so we have a plan,” Tony says. “Let’s flush them out.”  
It doesn’t take long for Crossbones to step up as Captain America and start saving the city. He does it with a far more ruthless attitude, and crosses a lot of lines Steve wouldn’t. It’s one mission in particular that goes a little off plan, and The Avengers are there.  
“Going solo again, Cap,” Iron Man lands behind him asking. “I thought you were all about this team thing we were doing.”  
“Desperate times and desperate measures, you know. The Avengers are a bunch of second rate heroes. Everyone knows I made the team what it is,” Bones says.  
“Good thing we found a replacement for you then. Out with the old and in with the new as it were.”  
Disguised in the new Super Patriot uniform Steve jumps down from the roof he was watching the exchange on. Crossbones does a double take as he sees what he thinks was the uniform he used to trick Cap earlier.  
“Well, Cap, you should know you’re not the only super soldier in town anymore. It seems to me that you have corrupted your purpose. You’ve crossed a lot of lines; I think it’s time we take you down.”  
“I’m America’s first super hero. I’d like to see you try and take me down.” Bones says this trying to sound confident, but he has no idea who this is in front of him issuing the challenge. “So are you going to talk me to death, or bring it?”  
Steve doesn’t say anything more. He moves into battle like he has done a thousand times before. He has to hold back a little, not wanting to give away his real identity; he pretends that they are evenly matched. It forces Crossbones into being overconfident and he starts to press his false advantage, as Steve draws him right where he wants him. Thinking his opponent is falling back, mistakes start to happen. Punches miss wildly and more than once Bones is put down on his back. His next big mistake would end up being his last. Knowing now that his opponent is more than what he seems, Bones throws his shield at Steve. It’s a clumsy throw and flies wobbling through the air. Seeing this Steve knows he has to finish it. Catching the shield effortlessly, he breaks it in half, and decides to reveal himself.  
“Looks like the Senator and his flunkies failed to copy the real deal. Your little test fight with me was pathetic. Who put you up to this,” Steve asks as he removes the patriot mask.  
Bones doesn’t answer, he pulls a gun from the back of his belt and fires it at Steve, but the real Captain America is never without a plan, or back-up. Rhodey was watching from a roof from behind the fight, as the gun was being pulled he sent Steve’s shield flying through the air to be caught and deflect the bullet just in time. Surrounded, Bones tries one more time to beat Steve with another wild punch. With his shield still in a defensive position, the fist hits and is shattered. With a shout of pain, Bones goes down, and Steve removes his mask  
“Rumlow, I should have known. Only you could make such a weak attempt to impersonate me,” Steve says. “Who are you working for?”  
Crossbones’ only answer is to spit at Steve’s feet. With a single punch to the face, he is knocked out. Undeterred, Steve removes the Super Patriot uniform to dress Crossbones it in while he takes the Captain America uniform.  
“It’s time we finish this,” Steve says. As he has finished putting on the uniform a tracking light starts flashing, directing them to the next location where Crossbones is supposed to meet his benefactor.   
“Tony, Rhodey, I’m going to follow this homing signal. Watch the skies, and keep me covered. When we get there, I need you to back my play. We’ll be taking him with us; we need whoever this mystery man is to believe I’m his fake Captain, at least until he reveals himself.”  
“We’ve got your back, Cap,” Rhodey says. We end this.”  
It takes them less than five minutes to locate the source of the signal. Whoever the mystery benefactor was he stayed close to his lackey watching as the missions would unfold.  
“Welcome back Crossbones, I see you have brought me a prisoner. You have done your job well. The Captain’s reputation should now be utterly destroyed. Who is this you have brought here dressed in the Super Patriot uniform,” The Red Skull asks, while still disguised as the Senator.  
“He’s a new super soldier. He thought he could take the old Captain’s place by defeating me in combat. He was pathetic.”  
“Excellent, if he is unconscious it will be far easier to remove his mask to discover his identity, but first, there is no more need for my mask.” With the Skull revealing himself, Steve knows now that HYDRA would be making another resurgence. “Remove his mask, Crossbones. Let me see the face of the enemy.”  
Steve does as he is asked, and as the mask comes off, the Skull realizes he has been tricked.   
“I demand to know who you are. How did you defeat my own personal Captain America?”  
“Face it Skull, you could never outthink me when it comes to war. Time and Time again we dance this dance. It always ends the same way, with you, defeated.” Steve rips the mask from his face revealing himself. The Skull can’t believe it.  
“HYDRA Agents, attack! Kill Captain America,” the Skull shouts. As the room begins to fill up with HYDRA, Iron Man and War Machine blast through the ceiling flanking Steve and protecting him. The fight lasts for less than two minutes as the armored friends take down every enemy. As Steve fights the Skull, a blast from behind is fired off of his shield, hitting the legs of his opponent. The Skull goes down, severely wounded.  
“You’re finished Skull. For good this time,” Steve says walking away.


	27. Anniversary

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the events with the Red Skull, Pepper puts her wedding plans on hold for Steve and Nat's first wedding anniversary.

The events caused by the Red Skull and Crossbones threw all the wedding plans into disarray. Pepper proved how strong she is by just going with it. She knows that this will be a constant for their lives so she made do with the time they had. With these events behind them now and her wedding coming up, she remembered that Steve and Tasha’s first anniversary was also coming up. Putting everything on hold, she planned a party for them. As they descend in the elevator to the recreational floor, the rest of the Avengers are waiting and surprise them.  
“Happy Anniversary, you guys,” they all shout in unison.  
“An anniversary party,” you guys must have been planning this for a while,” Tasha says.  
“Not really, I’ve been planning it for just a week,” Pepper replies. “You guys didn’t forget, did you?”  
“Not possible,” Steve says. “We were going to keep it low key, and with the events of the past few months, and your wedding to plan Pepper, we…”  
“Yeah, I call bullshit on that Steve,” Tony says. “Our wedding is still a month away. You had plenty of time to plan this out.” He gives Steve a wink, pretending it was all his idea.  
“Steve, did you plan this, and Pepper is taking the credit? You never cease to amaze me,” Tasha says.  
“Well, I did have an idea for the party, but I needed Pepper’s help with the planning.”  
For the next two hours, in addition to an anniversary party, Bobbi has also made it a baby shower. They are given multiple gifts for both a boy and girl, since the sex of the babies is still unknown. Tony gave Skye her own apartment so he could convert Tasha’s office into a nursery. A wall was taken out to allow for her to still have her office and there were two cribs, and plenty of toys already provided. He also had similar work done at the Cabin he had given to them, but that would be a surprise for when they get there. Finally, he reminds them all it’s their weekly movie night, something they’ve missed because of the all the recent unpredictability.   
“So being movie night, I thought we’d go with a classic for the old married couple, Tony says.  
“Here it comes, what did you choose; Tony,” Steve asks.  
“I gave you a hard time when you chose it, so I thought we’d give Casablanca another chance.”  
“Really, you chose Casablanca. I’m dumbfounded Tony. You hate black and white movies.”  
“Well there’s always a first time for everything, maybe I’ll change my mind.”  
As the Avengers, Trip and Skye, Fitz and Simmons settle in to watch the movie, Tony actually finds himself enjoying the movie this time around. When the movie ends Tony actually compliments the film.  
“Okay, I admit it, this was a really great movie,” he says.


	28. Parties and wedding in a week

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> June in New York. Pepper and Tony have finalized their wedding plans and it's time for the bachelor and bachelorette parties.

June arrived and so did summer in New York. With the wedding plans completely finalized, the night of the bachelor and bachelorette parties arrived. Phil; May, and Maria all came to the respective parties. Audrey was overseas for a concert in London. When Phil had received the invitation to the wedding, she promised she would make it back in time. Fitz and Simmons relationship was progressing, and while Skye and Trip had one date, they decided to just remain friends. No one could really decide on whether or not to stay at the tower for the parties or to go out. Tony suggested going to his favorite bar, and he dragged the rest of the guys along with him, even when it’s his bachelor party he still has to decide what to do. What they found out when they got there was that his favorite bar was no longer what it used to be. So Tony would do the same thing he did with the bar he found General Thunderbolt Ross in. Heading back to the tower all the guys except Tony would rather spend the party there anyway.  
“Back so soon,” Tasha asks as they enter the recreation floor.  
“I don’t know what they did to that bar, but it’s not what it used to be,” Tony says sounding dejected.  
Steve goes over to sit with her on the sofa, and she reclines stretching her legs across his lap. Looking over at her his eyes say don’t ask.  
“What happened to all the great bars in this town,” Tony continues on with his diatribe. It used to be that you could go to any bar, and watch a game or drink until you couldn’t remember. What happened to nachos and peanuts, now we have to have family restaurants instead of an old fashioned bar?”  
“Better get used to it, Tony; “Clint says. “You’re getting married in less than a week. This is going to be your life now. Besides, the tower has a better bar anyway.”  
“For once the archer is right,” Tony says. “We do have a fully stocked bar here. I still need to do something about that place though. I’m going to buy it, first thing in the morning.”  
“Tony, you don’t need to buy another bar,” Pepper says. “Remember the last one you bought?”  
“Can’t forget it, it’s where I found Thunderbolt Ross after the whole Hulk incident that went through Harlem.” Bruce cringes at the mention of Ross and Harlem; sometimes it’s still a source of frustration for him because Ross forced him into it when Blonsky became the Abomination. The events also turned Samuel Sterns into The Leader, after the destruction of the lab caused his blood and Bruce’s to mix. Tasha remembers this as well, because she was sent to New York to confront Sterns by order of Fury.  
“Hey, this is a party,” Bobbi reminds them all. Can we forget the mistakes of the past for the night and just celebrate?”  
“Bobbi is right, guys,” Steve says. Tony; you and Pepper are getting married, Tasha and I are going to be parents in less than a month. Tonight is about happy occasions.”  
The party finally takes on a more festive atmosphere and they all begin to have fun. Tony brings the deck of cards out again, and all the guys join in, except for Steve who decides to sit this one out, so he lets Trip take his place.   
“So Mr. I found a file is going to sit this one out. Good, that means this time you can’t take our money again with all our tells,” Tony jokes.  
Tasha leans over and whispers in Steve’s ear: “Go ahead, show them how well you’ve improved at poker since last year. Bet you don’t lose once this time,” she says with a smile.  
“Okay, I’m in.” Steve walks over to the table and takes a chair. Phil deals the cards and the game begins. As the first hand goes around the table, Tony places a very large bet, the others meet his bet all thinking they have the best hand, when it comes Steve’s turn to bet, he doubles Tony’s original bet. As they go around again, Bruce is the first to fold, followed by Clint and Sam, and Trip is the last trying to stay in as long as possible, but even he can’t keep up. As Tony and Steve are last two left, the betting has doubled each time, neither of them refuse to give an inch. When Steve matched Tony’s final bet, reason gave way and he decided discretion was the better part of valor, and folded. Showing their cards, Steve won with a pair of two’s to Tony’s three of a kind.   
“Kudos, Steve. You’ve finally learned to bluff,” Tony says.   
“I had a one heck of a teacher, Tony. I learned to play from the file. I learned to bluff by watching you.”  
“All right then, game on,” Phil says. As each hand is played it always comes down to Steve as one of the last in the game. He beats every one of them, sometimes bluffing but most of the time with a straight hand. Given that it was a friendly game they didn’t actually play for money. All of them were impressed that the old soldier learned a few new tricks. As Phil and Tony clean up from the game, the others go back to conversation and movies. Steve goes back and sits with Tasha like he was before. Getting a little more comfortable, she stretches out on the couch with her head in his lap, while he runs his fingers through her hair.   
“You won every time,” she says looking up at him.  
“If we’d been playing for money, I’d be the billionaire,” Steve says with a laugh.  
“Yeah, but I don’t need a billionaire, Steve; just you.” Tasha replies as she starts to fall asleep.  
The party begins to wind down and as they all head to their rooms, Steve and Tasha are left on the couch. She is still asleep and he doesn’t want to wake her to go back to their apartment so he leans his head back to fall asleep, still running his fingers through her hair after he gives her their special kiss on the forehead.  
The next morning Tony has bought the bar just like he said he would. Pepper wants to be angry, but she knows her fiancé’s eccentrics extremely well. She was impressed that he didn’t have the bar demolished like the last one. As she and Tony both come downstairs, they lower their voices so as not to wake Steve and Tasha who are still asleep.   
“Pepper, I want to show you something,” Tony whispers. “Jarvis should be just about done with the fabrication process.”  
“What is this Tony? A wedding surprise,” she asks.  
“You’ll see. Remember how well you were able to use the Mark 42 when I had directed it to protect you as the house was being destroyed?”  
“I tried to use it I remember, but it didn’t work out so well as I blasted the floor instead of the glass.”  
“Well, you should be able to use this better, when it’s complete. If you want it, it’s yours.”  
Tony opens the workshop where Jarvis is using the tower robots to construct a special suit of armor designed for Pepper.  
“The suit is designated Rescue. It doesn’t have the same offensive capabilities as my most recent suit, but it was designed to be able to protect you and anyone you deem needing protection. You don’t have to use it, but we live in a world of threats, and I still want you to be protected.”  
“So this is my wedding present? A suit of armor,” Pepper inquires.  
“No, Pepper, this is just something I thought…” he pauses.  
“Tony, I know that you want to protect me. I don’t need the armor. We’ve got friends who are now more like family. I appreciate the gesture, but let’s keep it on lock down for now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter has a reference to the Incredible Hulk scene where Tony meets Thunderbolt Ross. Also references the Marvel One Shot THe Consultant where Tony bought the bar. Tony and Jarvis build the rescue armor for Pepper.


	29. The Wedding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony and Pepper's wedding day

A week later the day of Tony and Pepper’s wedding has arrived. Proving that he doesn’t have to go big and extravagant, Tony booked a small chapel for a simple ceremony. Like with Steve and Tasha’s wedding their closest friends came. Audrey made it as she promised Phil she would. Since Maria has been working for Stark Industries she was also a guest. Fury showed up again, if nothing else as a reminder to Tony that he would always be keeping an eye on him. With everything in place the minister performs the ceremony.  
“Do you, Anthony Edward Stark, take Virginia Pepper Potts to be your lawfully wedded wife?”  
“I do.”  
“And do you Virginia Pepper Potts take Anthony Edward Stark to be your lawfully wedded husband?”  
“I do.”  
As Tony and Pepper are introduced as man and wife, the Avengers and their guests all celebrate. Steve and Tasha move to stand next to each other remembering their wedding day just over a year ago. Both of them are happy for Tony and Pepper. Watching the newlyweds celebrate and get congratulated, they also realized that the next big event is close at hand when their twin children will be born. As they watch lost in thought, Tony begins to tease Bruce.  
“So Bruce, you’re next. When are you going to propose to Betty,” Tony asks.  
“Let’s just say Betty and I are waiting for the right time. We both have a lot going on with our work lives,” Bruce replies.  
“Uh-huh, sounds like a cop-out to me. Come on, we can all be in our rocking chairs at Steve and Natasha’s cabin in our old age, sipping lemonade and yelling at our kids to turn down that loud music,” Tony taunts him again.  
“As tempting as that sounds, Tony, I know your rocking chair would have to be bigger and rock faster than all of ours.”  
“You know me so well, Tony Stark never does anything half way.”  
As night falls, Tony and Pepper leave for their honeymoon in Italy, and the rest of the team and their guests return to the tower. Steve, Skye and Tasha return to their floor, to get packed for the trip to the hospital should the babies come early.  
“Looks like we have everything Tasha,” Steve says.  
“Then we’re ready for when the time comes. Skye I want to thank you for all the help you’ve given me the past couple of months. I hope you’ll stick around after the babies are born.”  
“I’ve already talked to Coulson about that. I’m still a member of his team, but you guys have made me feel like I belong here as well,” Skye says.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nearing the end of the story. Nick Fury shows up to the wedding, Tony decides to tease Bruce seeing as how Clint and Bobbi, Steve and Nat, and now he and Pepper have all tied the knot.


	30. The twins are born

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers return from their missions, while Tony and Pepper return from their honeymoon. Tasha goes into labor.

Two weeks after the wedding Tasha goes into labor. Tony and Pepper make it back before the babies are born, and the rest of the Avengers all make it back in time from their respective missions. In the delivery room, Steve never leaves Tasha’s side and holds her hand through fifteen hours of labor, and several screams of I hate you Rogers. As the first baby is born, they are congratulated by the Doctors for a healthy baby boy, James Rogers. As Tasha begins to push again, the next baby arrives a little easier than the boy and they have a beautiful baby girl, Talia Alaina Rogers. Resting now, the new parents are ecstatic at the birth of their twins. James got Tasha’s red hair and green eyes while Talia took a little more after Steve with reddish blonde hair and blue eyes. An hour later, the rest of the Avengers are allowed to enter the room in pairs, one at a time. Clint and Bobbi are the first allowed in.  
“Congrats, you guys,” Bobbi says. “They are so beautiful. They clearly take after the best parts of both of you.”  
“Not to disagree with you, Bobbi, but thank God they look more like their mother,” Clint says jokingly. “What did you name them?”  
“James and Talia,” Tasha replies. “Clint, Steve and I want to ask you and Bobbi something.”  
“We were wondering if you two would be their God-parents,” Steve says. “We know they’ve got the whole Avengers family to look after them, but Clint you’re like a brother to Tasha, and we both agree on this.”  
Clint is speechless, though happy they were thought of first, and Bobbi answers for the both of them. “We’d be honored, thank you.”   
As Clint and Bobbi leave, the other members of the team offer up their congratulations to the proud parents, Tony and Pepper are next, followed by Phil and Audrey, then Skye and Trip, Fitz and Simmons, Bruce and Betty, Sam, Rhodey, Maria, Thor and Jane, and finally Nick Fury.  
“I’m happy for you two. These children are very blessed to have the two of you for parents. I know you’ll keep them safe, we may have two future Agents of SHIELD here,” Nick says. As Nick leaves, and they both are allowed to relax with their children Steve is holding James in one arm and still holding Tasha’s hand with the other.  
“I’m so proud of you, Tasha. The Yankees/Dodgers game was the second greatest birthday present I’ve ever gotten, this is the best present ever,” he says.  
Looking up at Steve, and holding Talia, Tasha is happy they have a family.  
“We’ve got everything we both wanted, Steve. Love, a home and a family, I’m glad this is our life together.”


	31. Five Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little fluff about Steve, Nat and their kids. James and Talia want to know how their parents met. Ties back to first part: A Chance Meeting.

The Avengers are still as close as any family could be. They all spoil James and Talia as much as possible, and the kids are happy to have met all their aunts and uncles. Sometimes it seems like they love their Uncle Tony and Aunt Pepper the most because he buys them all the expensive toys, but Steve and Tasha are able to keep them grounded in reality, knowing that family is more important than any material possession. One night just before their bed time, James asks for a story about his mommy and daddy.  
“Daddy, how did you and Mommy meet?”  
“Well, your mom and I met when your Uncle Phil introduced us on the helicarrier; just before we all had to work together to stop an alien invasion,” Steve tells his son.  
“That was the first time we officially met, but there was another time I actually saw your father before that,” Tasha says.  
“Tell us that story,” Talia says. Steve doesn’t remember this, so he is intrigued to hear it as well.  
“Well, your Uncle Clint and I were on a mission, and we had to go undercover. We were assigned to protect a visiting ambassador at a diplomatic party in New York. What we didn’t know was that there was a Super-Soldier at this same party. He was there trying to get acclimated to the 21st century. We told you about how he had been frozen for seventy years and went under as a hero of World War Two.” The kids both nod, already familiar with that story. Steve remembers the party, but still can’t place Tasha there.  
“Well, he was sitting at a table in the corner, just kind of watching the crowd. Everyone knew who your father was from the stories passed down. Everyone wanted to be seen with him and have their picture taken with the living legend. There were many women flirting with him and trying to get his attention but he ignored them all until a young blonde woman came over and offered him a drink.” Steve remembers the woman, and recognition begins to dawn on him.  
“You look like you could use this,” she said.  
“Maybe, but I’m not a big drinker, with my metabolism, I can’t get drunk.”  
“Just take the drink,” she said. “Tell me about you, why do you keep ignoring all these women, they know who you are.”  
“I know, but they’re all mostly the hanging on type, and only want to be seen with Captain America, it feels like they couldn’t care less about the man under the shield.”  
“And that’s a problem for you?”  
“It’s not what I want, not what I’m waiting for.”  
“What are you waiting for, if not anyone of them?”  
“Someone, strong, fearless, and independent,” he replies.  
“That sounds a little vague, is there any more to her than that?”  
“I’ll know it when I find her. She’ll be just as guarded as I am.”  
“So you want someone who can ultimately bring your walls down,” she asks.  
“It’s not about bringing them down; it’s about finding someone with the courage to climb.”  
“Sounds like you’re looking for…,”she pauses  
“The right partner,” Steve and Tasha say in unison, remembering their kids are listening.  
But by now James and Talia have fallen asleep, so Steve and Tasha quietly leave the room, as they sit down on the couch in front of the fireplace in the cabin, he thinks back to that night, and in his memories sees through the disguise his future wife was wearing. As he wraps his arm around her, Tasha leans her head on his shoulder but can feel him concentrating on something.  
“You’re distracted, Steve. Penny for your thoughts,” she asks.  
“I was just thinking…” he pauses.  
“About what,” Tasha inquires.  
“About how far more beautiful you are as a redhead,” he says with a smile. I remember that night now. I never did thank you for the drink.”  
“Well Clint did pull me away before you got the chance. Besides the life we have together is more than thanks enough.”  
“It was a long road to where we are, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”  
They watch the remaining flames burn out in the fireplace and know that their lives can’t get any better than they already are. Fate brought Captain America and the Black Widow together, but Steve and Tasha look forward to the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final chapter of this part. I hope ya'll enjoyed the story. Part 4/Conclusion of the series coming soon. It is set fifteen years in the future. 
> 
> Next up: New Soldier/Old Enemy


End file.
